The Heartbreak Kid

Review by Sam Allen

What We’ve Got To Work With: Ben Stiller (Something About Mary), Jerry Stiller (Every Sitcom Ever Made), Malin Akerman (Naked chick from Harold and Kumar), Michelle Monoghan (Tom Cruise’ wife in MI:3), Rob Corddry (The Daily Show), Carlos Mencia (Awwww…man).

Written and Directed by the Farley Brothers (Something About Mary, Shallow Hal, Me, Myself and Irene)

What They Put Together: Ben Stiller plays a lonely, single guy with a less lonely father and a “happily” married best friend. The film opens with Stiller learning that the single life is not the one for him, and two minutes later he’s off to Mexico for a relaxing honeymoon with his new seemingly perfect wife (Akerman).

Here’s the catch: Unlike most women, this one isn’t perfect. After only a few nights Ben comes to realize this and develops a relationship with someone else. ‘The Heartbreak Kid’ has a goofy plot that centers around one man attempting to balance a good and bad relationship at the same time. What kind of wacky adventures could this possibly result in?

It’s funny. I’ve seen funnier, but this is a funny that both teenagers and adults can enjoy… as long as they’re not in the same room. Let’s not get the wrong idea, though. I’ve seen this film advertised as “an R-rated film for adults.” No. This is another R-rated film for teenagers, which is clearly presented in only a couple of minutes of watching. This is a movie that tries to pull off what Something About Mary did, but falls a few inches short. Remember that scene with the old lady’s … weird … boobs? There is a similar scene in Heartbreak Kid … only …. weirder… like … “what?”

Let’s put all that behind us and look at the organs of this film. It is so shallow that even the vegans end up asking for the meat. There’s not a sentence uttered in this film that consists of anything more than a couple words that are no more than a couple of letters long. Whatever. This film isn’t going to get an Oscar and its cast and crew were aware of this before filming.

I Hope.

Well acted. This is a cast that you’ll love just by looking at them. Where did Rob Corddry come from? This guy needs more film roles. Even the ever un-funny Carlos Mencia gets a few laughs at most. Of course, I give all the credit to the Farlys.

In the end, I like it. It’s a fun movie to see with your spouse if you need a quick laugh. It’s a good weekend film for all you groups of high school youngsters. Give it a try. I give you permission.

‘The Heartbreak Kid’ gets a B-.
Official web site: http://www.heartbreakkidmovie.com/

Sam Allen attends U-32 High School in East Montpelier and lives on a small farm in Calais. Samuel Danger Allen is his My Space sign-on.

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