Okay, The Heartbreak Kid was never on my must-see list. I like Ben Stiller and I root for the Farrelly Brothers to hit the mark again but they’ve been running pretty dry of late. Ben Stiller’s romantic comedies have all pretty much been the same film since he last teamed up with these guys. The brothers Farrelly always had a sweet side to their movies and sometimes that sweet side undercuts their comedies which would be okay if their screenplays were a little stronger. The kinda good news is the sweet tooth of Shallow Hal and Stuck On You is gone.
I’ve never seen the original 1972 film with Charles Grodin (mostly because it stars Charles Grodin) so I can’t do a compare and contrast here. But I’ll give you a breakdown:
Ben Stiller is hitting his forties, his friends are all getting married and he’s beginning to wonder if that special girl is really out there. Enter Lila (Malin Akerman, who you might recall as E’s yummy threesome friend on Entourage) who seems like the perfect girl. Nice teeth, nice bod and sparkling personality. Long story short, Stiller marries her and together they ride off into the sunset. But not so fast. They aren’t two minutes on their honeymoon before he realizes his new bride is a complete freak. We’re talking carnival show here. The good news is he meets Miranda (played by Michelle Monaghan) who seems un-freak like, down to earth and even though her family members are a bunch of wackadoos, Stiller doesn’t seem to mind them so much. So he spends the rest of the film dealing with his wife’s shenanigans while trying to keep her a secret from Miranda.
This is a movie easy to sharpen your knives for. I’m not going to criticize this movie for what it is. Not every comedy has to be a complete original or aim for the moon. I get that. Some of them just need to entertain. It’s a Farelly brothers comedy and you either like this idea or you don’t. I like the idea when it hits so I will base it on that platform. Now a lot of the jokes miss, others you can see coming a mile away but the movie does throw out enough that it scored some belly chuckles with me. You ask me, the movie needed more Rob Corddry (of The Daily Show fame). He is probably the funniest guy in the movie (especially in the film’s opening wedding scene). Stiller is still very good at mugging for the camera, but we’ve seen this act before. Akerman is totally game as the nutso wifey and she scores some points for going full throttle. She’s like a cross between Cameron Diaz’s Mary and the queen mother from Aliens. Between this and Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang I think it’s safe to say Michelle Monaghan specializes in the cool-as-shit chicks department. She too is like Diaz’s Mary but a little more realistic and with the slightest hard edge.
As I said, I did laugh watching this movie but something in me feels the Farrelly’s wasted an opportunity here. They market this movie telling us, “Finally! A comedy for adults!”. First of all, I saw two great R-rated comedies this year that were funnier than this (you can guess which two and yup, you’re right). Second, this movie wasn’t nearly hard R enough. They could have really gone for broke here, especially with the gross-out humor. This is their forte, why deny it?
The film almost falls apart in the last act. I’m not sure the Farelly’s have ever completely understood structure. So many of their third acts feel like extended detours and this one is no different. While I didn’t expect the journey of the last act, it still gets you where you expect to be. But the Farelly’s have one more trick up their sleeve and that is the film’s wonderfully cynical ending. I’m not sure if this ending is from the 1972 film or not, but I liked it a lot. This isn’t a bittersweet ending. This is a kind of devious ending, an almost F-you to the audience in a way. I’m no champion of cynicism, but it was a little refreshing. You can’t help but turn yourself against a certain character in the final moments and the last line and the way it’s delivered is actually pretty damn good. Endings are big for me and this was a score for the Farellys in my book.
Still, I’m not sure I’d recommend this movie. If you’re up for a comedy it’s either this or In The Valley of Elah (I’ll pretend The Game Plan doesn’t exist if you will). I would stick with this. Otherwise, do yourself a favor, go see Michael Clayton and wait for this on DVD as it will probably make for a better rental.
