The Heartbreak Kid (D or 1/4 stars)
It's a struggle to laugh at 'The Heartbreak Kid', a comedy directed by the Farrelly Bros. (There's Something About Mary). Though he thinks he's just married the woman of his dreams, Eddie Cantrow (Ben Stiller) realizes that she is anything but. Not only is she a nightmare, but he thinks he has found the 'real' woman of his dreams while on his honeymoon. This film aspires to the same brand of humor in There's Something About Mary, but it's one big, unfunny disaster.
Eddie is 40 yrs. old, owns a sporting goods store, & is bereft at his still being single. But after going to an ex's wedding, Eddie bumps into Lila (Malin Akerman), a cute girl who appears to be fairly normal. Pressured by his sex-driven father (real life dad, Jerry Stiller), Eddie pops the question after only 6 weeks when he hears that Lila's job is relocating to Holland. Everything is going swell. They marry, jump in the car, & drive for Cabo San Lucas. On the drive down, she starts to grate on his nerves by singing to every song that comes on the radio. He soon finds her to be immature, a liar, a former drug addict, a simpleton, a maniac in bed (and not for good reasons), & largely in debt; the list actually goes on & on. Welcome to the Honeymoon from Hell.
Soon, he strikes up a friendship/relationship with Miranda (Michelle Monaghan), a down-to-Earth girl who's vacationing with her family. But she doesn't know he's on his honeymoon. And because Lila has a severe sunburn, she's hotel room-bound. She doesn't realize that his sneaking off isn't to play golf with some buddies. Some of the funnier aspects of the film is hearing how he can outsmart/fast-talk his way out of revealing what he's 'really' doing; oddly, it all sounds convincing enough, so the plot works here. But it doesn't work in so many other ways. Initially entertained, the positive(s) in the film wear off quickly.
First & foremost, the movie isn't funny enough. I think I giggled 2 or 3 times in 114 minutes. In fact, the humor is so mean spirited and CRASS, that all it did was put me off. The dialogue btwn. Eddie & his father, Eddie & Lila, Eddie & <insert any name> is obnoxious & disgusting (to me, at least). I don't know who they were thinking was gonna find any of it funny. The Farrelly Bros. aim to create the same effects from their earlier, more successful work, but it's all just a lame regurgitation; regurgitation from other Farrelly projects, as well as other cliches from other lamebrain comedies of the same ilk.
Another problem is that I felt no chemistry btwn. Eddie & Miranda (... her character is kinda bland). Their 'sorta' romance plods along like most of the story. And last but not least, I strongly disliked ALL of these characters, mainly Eddie himself (especially when he kicks himself in the ass in the closing moments of the movie). He's an unrootable jerk. Him, his father, & the film, are pretty sleazy. I guess the moral of the story (not that there has to be one) is NOT to marry too quickly. 'The Heartbreak Kid' is a prime example of the lude, crude type of humor that American comedy seems to be offering lately. I'd rather stay home.
Eddie is 40 yrs. old, owns a sporting goods store, & is bereft at his still being single. But after going to an ex's wedding, Eddie bumps into Lila (Malin Akerman), a cute girl who appears to be fairly normal. Pressured by his sex-driven father (real life dad, Jerry Stiller), Eddie pops the question after only 6 weeks when he hears that Lila's job is relocating to Holland. Everything is going swell. They marry, jump in the car, & drive for Cabo San Lucas. On the drive down, she starts to grate on his nerves by singing to every song that comes on the radio. He soon finds her to be immature, a liar, a former drug addict, a simpleton, a maniac in bed (and not for good reasons), & largely in debt; the list actually goes on & on. Welcome to the Honeymoon from Hell.
Soon, he strikes up a friendship/relationship with Miranda (Michelle Monaghan), a down-to-Earth girl who's vacationing with her family. But she doesn't know he's on his honeymoon. And because Lila has a severe sunburn, she's hotel room-bound. She doesn't realize that his sneaking off isn't to play golf with some buddies. Some of the funnier aspects of the film is hearing how he can outsmart/fast-talk his way out of revealing what he's 'really' doing; oddly, it all sounds convincing enough, so the plot works here. But it doesn't work in so many other ways. Initially entertained, the positive(s) in the film wear off quickly.
First & foremost, the movie isn't funny enough. I think I giggled 2 or 3 times in 114 minutes. In fact, the humor is so mean spirited and CRASS, that all it did was put me off. The dialogue btwn. Eddie & his father, Eddie & Lila, Eddie & <insert any name> is obnoxious & disgusting (to me, at least). I don't know who they were thinking was gonna find any of it funny. The Farrelly Bros. aim to create the same effects from their earlier, more successful work, but it's all just a lame regurgitation; regurgitation from other Farrelly projects, as well as other cliches from other lamebrain comedies of the same ilk.
Another problem is that I felt no chemistry btwn. Eddie & Miranda (... her character is kinda bland). Their 'sorta' romance plods along like most of the story. And last but not least, I strongly disliked ALL of these characters, mainly Eddie himself (especially when he kicks himself in the ass in the closing moments of the movie). He's an unrootable jerk. Him, his father, & the film, are pretty sleazy. I guess the moral of the story (not that there has to be one) is NOT to marry too quickly. 'The Heartbreak Kid' is a prime example of the lude, crude type of humor that American comedy seems to be offering lately. I'd rather stay home.