The Heartbreak Kid (2007)

How the mighty have fallen! The Farrely Brothers once upon a time were the kings of comedy, with a string of hits under their belts and some laugh out loud movies that included Dumb and Dumber and There's Something About Mary, they were truly unstoppable. Then something happened, they suddenly made flops, or at least disappointments. Stuck On You in my mind is where this all began, uneven comedies that while having some good moments were just so unmemorable it was unbelievable. I never saw The Ringer, I didn't agree with the subject matter hence why I didn't watch it, but I was actually really looking forward to The Heartbreak Kid. The trailer made me laugh and it looked like a return to Mary territory. I went into this movie expecting a short, light hearted comedy with some hilarious moments. I came out bored to tears, having only laughed a few times and feeling really cheated and also very disappointed. The Heartbreak Kidis unfortunately a big flop and is definitely the Brothers weakest movie to date in my mind. This wouldn't bother me if everything about the movie was unbelievably awful, but the most frustrating thing is that there are moments in this movie that are genuinely brilliant. The storyline itself is great, the characters are great, the tone is right, so where the hell did it go some damn wrong? My guess is that studio interference has a large part to play. The gross out Farrely humour just does not gel with the sweet romance story at the centre of it all. Also the movie is way too long and the script way too uneven for this to be a good movie. This may not be the worst movie of the year in my eyes but its certainly one of the most frustrating. Ben Stiller is great, Malin Akerman is superb, there are scenes and ideas that are brilliant, the ending is pitch perfect, yet everything else is just so poorly executed!

So lets start with the cast which admittedly is the most consistently decent thing in the movie. Ben Stiller is on a return to form in this movie, after a few cameos here and there and a phoned in performance in Night in the Museum he finally seems at ease. In fact this is arguably his best work in my eyes since Dodgeball, not hard when you see his recent line of work. His natural easy going charm works in this movie and makes a potentially unlikable character, and actually at times his character remains very unlikable, just a bit more tolerable. A shame then the script gives him little comedy to work with, that is until a priceless psychotic breakdown over a Mexican band, which is one of the few highlights of the movie. The true star of the movie however is Malin Akerman as the psychotic Lila. Akerman seems to have a blast as the mad, former junkie, in debt, clingy, neurotic wife from hell. However I found something very strange while watching this movie, I actually felt sorry for Lila for a lot of the film. Sure when she's having sex and beating the hell out of her husband its hard to feel sorry for her, but when Ben Stiller is cheating on her its kind of sad. Whether or not this is intentional or not is debatable however. Michelle Monaghan definitely drew the short straw of the group in a role that is pretty pointless and just too unoriginal for me to give a damn about.

The humour of the movie and the unevenness of pace is definitely where the Heartbreak Kid literally breaks. The movie does start off quite well, sure its not classic but its amusing. In fact the start of the honeymoon is relatively funny, but then about the halfway mark the movie just gives up all hope and d

Fmovies: The Farrely Brothers did it again ! One more good comedy for their list. I don't understand people saying this film is bad, cruel or something. This film is great, has a lot of funny moments, terrific cast and a rocking soundtrack. Who wants more than 1 hour and a half of pure fun, laughs and weird moments. The story is simple: Eddie (Ben Stiller) is a bachelor who finds what seems to be the perfect girl. He marries her only to find that she's a living nightmare. Later, he meets another girl and wind up falling in love with her. That's where the fun begins when he gets into a terrible mess with his wife and his new affair. The film is not politically correct, but fun don't have to be correct. Fun is fun and is meant to make you laugh and the film truly deliver the goods. If you are too moral about wedding, loyalty, good manners, please don't see this movie cause you probably will not like it. The ending really surprised me. I thought it was going to be something like sweet and warm. Instead, we have a real life, non-moral type of ending.

What a heartbreak it must have been for the quirky director siblings The Farrelly Brothers when their latest outlandish comedy "The Heartbreak Kid" broke in as a box office disappointment. It did not help matters much when critics did not have a heart and ripped it to shreds. However, I am not one of those critics; probably because I do not have the certification to be a critic. All kidding aside, I thought "The Heartbreak Kid" was a laugh riot! Let me break the narrative to you. Ben Stiller stars as Eddie Cantrow, a San Francisco sporting goods owner who marries Lila, a woman he has only known for six weeks. Lila is played by the up-and-coming Malin Akerman. The movie is primarily set in Cabo, Mexico which is where Eddie and Lila go on their honeymoon. In Cabo, Eddie discovers that Lila is not the woman he thought she was and before you could say "se acabo in Cabo" he craves to stay apart from loony Lila. In Cabo, Eddie also meets a Mississippi cutie redneck woman named Miranda; played also by another up-and-coming actress Michelle Monaghan. Mr. Eddie all of a sudden wants to horse around with Miranda behind his wife's back. Plot twists eventually get more zany & bizarre, and of course what is a Farrelly movie without some Farrellycious gross comedy. Stiller, Akerman, and Monaghan did put their heart into their commendable comedic performances. Also, some other praiseworthy acting broke into "The Heartbreak Kid" in the form of: Jerry Stiller playing Eddie's dad Doc, Rob Corddry playing Eddie's follicle challenged best friend Mac, and Danny McBride playing Miranda's overprotective redneck cousin Martin. The Farrelly Brothers far-out comedy does go into a roller-coaster turn at times, but it was riding way high in most of "The Heartbreak Kid". I thought "The Heartbreak Kid" was in the apex of comedic popcorn entertainment for 2007, and I do wholeheartedly mean that. ***** Excellent

The Heartbreak Kid fmovies. The Farrelly brothers have had a successful history, but their best work was past them a long time ago. Dumb and Dumber and There's Something About Mary are among the two funniest comedies of all-time, and put the brothers at the peak of stardom. However, their track record afterwards is a heavily mixed bag; you find your underrated gems (Osmosis Jones, Fever Pitch) and then your disasters (Shallow Hal, Stuck on You). The Heartbreak Kid is their attempt to reach back into grade-A stardom like back in the late 90s. Joining with old friend Ben Stiller, they attempt to successfully recreate an old Neil Simon story about a man who has second thoughts about his marriage during his honeymoon. What we get is a cruel, twisted, vulgar, outrageous, and bittersweet movie that tramples over morality and messes around with the typical romantic comedy formula. Unfortunately though, the cruelty in this movie prevents it from being anywhere near romantic. While the Farrelly brothers crafted their best work since Osmosis Jones, this is still nowhere near as good as their comedies of the previous decade.

Heartbreak Kid is about Eddie (Ben Stiller), a lonely man who meets a woman (Lila, played by Malin Akerman) during a random encounter, and after a few weeks believes that she is the perfect woman for him. However, right after the wedding, another side of his perfect woman is revealed, and is slowly but surely becoming a nightmare come true. Despite their honeymoon being in a beautiful portion of Mexico, the honeymoon is a disaster as Eddie struggles to survive being with his new wife. Worst of all, during the honeymoon he meets another woman, Miranda (Michelle Monaghan), who seems to be absolutely perfect for him. In this cruel script, nobody is the hero, and seemingly everybody is the victim in some way or another. Nobody is safe in the movie; which makes this story perfect for the Farrelly Brothers.

Ben Stiller seems to play the same kind of role multiple times, as he has a similar presence to that of his character in There's Something About Mary and Along Came Polly. The only difference is, he's a bit more sinister and a much bigger jerk. His new wife is portrayed perfectly by Malin Akerman, who isn't afraid of embarrassing herself or showing off her body. Their physical humor together creates the biggest laughs in the movie. The most desirable character by far comes from the best performance; Michelle Monaghan of Mission Impossible fame delivers this charming, sweet performance as the adorable and beautiful Miranda. Everyone else did a decent job, with Jerry Stiller in a throwaway role as Eddie's father and Carlos Mencia (surprisingly funny) as a manager of the hotel in Mexico.

This movie's biggest flaw is its obvious attempts to re-create the surprise vulgarity and bittersweet content of There's Something About Mary. It worked back then, but it has trouble now, simply because the characters are not as likable, and the movie lacks heart. In Dumb and Dumber, you knew that they weren't meant to get that dream girl, but their persistence and their kindness (hidden underneath their stupidity) allows for the audience to root for them regardless. In There's Something About Mary, the main character goes to great lengths to find Mary and attempt to be with her; it became a raunchy and bizarre hero's journey. In this movie, the main character selfishly marries, and tramples over other people (emotionally mind you) in order to find his actual soulmate; making him not a necessarily likable cha

The Heartbreak Kid isn't right up there in the list of great comedies starring Ben Stiller. It's a bit further down, nestled in amongst the likes of Along Came Polly and Envy.

That's not to say it isn't a good film. As far as romcoms go, it's alright. I think it's fair to say the first half trudges along quite slowly but stick with it while the main characters are introduced and the plot is founded because the second half is nicely paced with some very funny moments as things start to conclude. The cliffhanger ending is surprisingly delightful and watch for a final funny scene around halfway through the end credits.

The horrible crude scenes leave a bad taste and overshadow any funny scenes. I think the Farrelly Brothers wanted to recapture the success of "There's Something About Mary" -- but they've flopped hard.

The universe of "Mary" was completely wacky and any naughty parts just fit into that universe. This one feels like there were too many screenwriters tinkering with it. (5 are listed). Someone wrote a mainstream romantic comedy script -- then someone else (The Brothers, I'm guessing) came along and just stuck in gross shocking bits.

It's very uneven. It loses steam in the third act. Has a very unsatisfying and unpleasant ending. Carlos Mencia is obnoxious. Ben is looking too old to be playing these parts. Meanwhile, the girls still look 25.