Thursday, October 4

The Heartbreak Kid Review

Watching the trailer a few months ago, it would look like Ben Stiller was in a serious adult comedy, with his salt and pepper hair. Now that the movie is coming out, new promos on television slate it as your typical frat-brother-pleaser and that is pretty much what you get. Ben plays sadsack Eddie who after going to ex-fiancée's wedding and is teased by twins. Just playing, he tells the twins his last fictional wife was killed with an ice pick that comes back to bite him in the ass. He meets seemingly perfect Lila (Malin Akerman, who sounds like Cameron Diaz) when she is being mugged by a man who claims the bag 'is his.' Eddie should have seen his as a harbinger but he doesn't, he marries her when he fears he will loose her because of her job. On their honeymoon, every little thing bothers him about her. Her singing, her deviated septum, her wild whore-ish sex demands, and the fact that her job is actually a volunteering hobby. He then meets Miranda (Michelle Monaghan) and falls for her and classically doesn't tell her he is on his honeymoon. He befriends her family who are there for an annual wedding anniversary but, Miranda's cousin is understandably suspicious of Eddie.

Ben Stiller's father Jerry plays Doc, Eddie's father, who seems to be wearing leftover costumes from the movie Zoolander and Rob Corddry, is actually the only good thing in this movie as a pussy-whipped Mac. By half-way through the movie, Eddie gives up on Lila and is obsessed with Miranda, making the same mistakes again and never learns his lesson, even all the way to the end of the movie. We are also made to give up on Lila, who was focused on in the beginning and then suddenly is forgotten. The movie is full of cliches and does nothing to renovate them. Eddie tries to tell Miranda the truth but is interrupted (oooh) and then never tells her--oh my! All the things Eddie finds wrong with Lila except of course of the important tidbits she omits, like her singing and shit are not so bad. She wants to hold his hand and she swirls her finger around his nipple--doesn't sound bad to me but are his pet peeves. We are tricked to believe Ben Stiller is the decent guy but by the end, we see he is just as loony as he thinks his wife is.

For a movie that is billed as "A Comedy for Adults," it sure has a lot of children in it--those twins, I previously mentioned, are everywhere. Carlos Mencia, is in a forgettable role that can either be billed as stereotypical or typical of Mencia. He doesn't exactly take over much of the movie but one wishes Rod Corddry was more in it than he was.

Then at the end it says "Directed by the Farrely Brothers." I thought I knew everything about this movie and I didn't even know it was a Farrely Brothers movie. I thought they were really changing after "Fever Pitch," this movie seems like a week attempt at a serious indie flick but it still has the little Farrely quirks. If they went all the way with the craziness, it would have been better. Without knowing it was a Farrely Brothers, I would saw it was a sucky movie. Strangely, they usually have their brother-in-law Zen Gesner in the movie. The movie is apparently a remake of the 1972 film with Cybill Shepherd. The sex scenes are all right, funny and not too off-putting. The movie is funny but that's it. I wouldn't give it a second look.