Running time: 116 minutes
Starring: Ben Stiller, Michelle Monaghan, Malin Akerman, Jerry Stiller, Carlos Mencia
Rating 3 out of 10
The Farrelly brothers are notorious for highlighting the crudest, worst aspects of human nature. Films like Dumb & Dumber, There's Something About Mary and Shallow Hal have seen the pair exploit man's many failings for humour with no regard for artistic merit or sensitivity. Their success suggests many enjoy their brand of gross, stupid comedy. I am certainly not one of them. Listening to a septuagenarian quiz his son about his sex life by asking, 'You been crushing any pussy?' is not my idea of wit. Heaven only knows what Neil Simon would make of this updated version of his script for the 1972 Elaine May film that starred Charles Grodin and Cybil Shepherd. Truth is, the masterful writer wouldn't even recognize his work beneath the avalanche of expletives and obscene language the Farrelly brothers have buried it under. Simon's trademark warmth and charm has been replaced by a discomforting vulgarity.
The title is misleading. There's no one in this film that has a heart capable of being broken. Certainly not the Kid, Eddie Cantrow (Ben Stiller). Cantrow is a 40 year-old commitment phobe who has found fault in all his girlfriends. Ridiculed by his friends and father (Jerry Stiller) for his reluctance to get married, and mocked by kids who accuse of him of being gay, he sets out to find Mrs Right. After meeting the blonde beauty Lila (Malin Akerman), it appears his search is over. When their short and passionate relationship is jeopardized by her being offered a job abroad, he proposes and they get married.
Love may be blind, but marriage opens your eyes in a hurry and on their honeymoon in Mexico, Eddie discovers Lila has a few disarming habits, not to mention some skeletons in her closet. Never one for subtlety, the Farrelly's revel in exposing people's ignorance, prejudices and disgusting habits all in the name of comedy. But their jokes about stereotyping gays, obese mother-in-laws and exotic sexual positions are as archaic as they are unfunny. With the wedding cake barely digested and his wife holed up in the honeymoon suite with extreme sunburn, Eddie meets the young Miranda (Michelle Monaghan) and immediately questions his decision to get married.
The Heartbreak Kid is an immorality tale involving unscrupulous, self-serving people, headed up by the lying, cheating Eddie who possesses no endearing traits, and nothing that makes you wish him well. Indeed, when he emerges from the sea with a jellyfish stuck to his back, it's hard to know which of the two creatures is the worse off. By the end, Eddie's stupidity and inability to learn from his mistakes are his undoing. It's a bit like seeing yet another Farrelly brothers movie and expecting it to be good.
Kevin Murphy
