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The Break-Up (2006)

tomatometer

34

Average Rating: 5/10
Reviews Counted: 188
Fresh: 63 | Rotten: 125

This anti-romantic comedy lacks both laughs and insight, resulting in an odd and unsatisfying experience.

20

Average Rating: 4.5/10
Critic Reviews: 41
Fresh: 8 | Rotten: 33

This anti-romantic comedy lacks both laughs and insight, resulting in an odd and unsatisfying experience.

audience

52

liked it
Average Rating: 3.1/5
User Ratings: 422,487

My Rating

Movie Info

A once-loving Chicago couple whose happily-ever-after quickly turned into a never-again finds their crumbling romance complicated when both parties refuse to move out of the pair's recently purchased condo. The Break-Up is a romantic comedy that starts where all the others end. The future once looked promising for thirtysomething couple Brooke (Jennifer Aniston) and Gary (Vince Vaughn), but lately it seems like a series of increasingly petty and intolerable squabbles have snuffed any semblance

PG-13, 1 hr. 47 min.

Drama, Romance, Comedy

Jay Lavender, Jeremy Garelick, Vince Vaughn

Oct 17, 2006

$118.7M

Universal Pictures

Cast

All Critics (192) | Top Critics (41) | Fresh (66) | Rotten (127) | DVD (16)

"The Break-Up": A brilliantly uncompromising, often harsh but very accurate examination of a relationship unraveling

July 16, 2007 Full Review Source: Passionate Moviegoer | Comment
Passionate Moviegoer
Top Critic IconTop Critic

It's not a good sign when a movie is called The Break-Up and you can't wait for the couple to split so they'll get some relief from one another, and give the audience some relief from them.

June 22, 2006 Full Review Source: Wall Street Journal | Comment
Wall Street Journal
Top Critic IconTop Critic

One seemingly terminal problem with the casting of Ms. Aniston and Mr. Vaughn is that neither of their careers has featured characters who excelled at one-to-one relationships with the opposite sex.

June 21, 2006 Full Review Source: New York Observer | Comment
New York Observer
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Vince Vaughn kills me. Jennifer Aniston, I think, is underrated as a film actress.

June 5, 2006 Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper | Comment
Ebert & Roeper
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The movie offers nothing funny, just a series of sour situations.

June 2, 2006 Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | Comment
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic IconTop Critic

It's the most interesting spin on domestic strife since Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner were hurling dishes at each other in The War of the Roses.

June 2, 2006 Full Review Source: Toronto Star | Comment
Toronto Star
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The Break-Up is a funny and light comedy, but it tries to be something a bit more without being something a bit more, hampered by shoddy characterization, ending up a bit empty.

January 7, 2011 Full Review Source: ComingSoon.net | Comment
ComingSoon.net

The two stars remain painfully wrong for each other

August 30, 2009 Full Review Source: CinePassion | Comment
CinePassion

"The Break-Up" comes with a slap and a kiss that's at once bracing and pleasing.

April 23, 2009 Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | Comment
ColeSmithey.com

Mean-spirited comedy pushes edge for teens.

July 17, 2008 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | Comment
Common Sense Media

A word of caution to anyone heading off to see The Break-Up with the assumption that it is a romantic comedy: this is not a comedy movie with a serious side -- it is a serious movie with a comedic side.

February 28, 2008 Full Review Source: BrandonFibbs.com | Comment
BrandonFibbs.com

Stereotypes across the board, puerile one-upmanship games, and an utter failure to explain why, indeed, these two even were together.

August 11, 2007 Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | Comment
eFilmCritic.com

High-aimed intentions are thrown askew by the reliance on inconsistent laughs seemingly meant to break the otherwise overriding tension.

July 3, 2007 Full Review Source: Projection Booth | Comment
Projection Booth

Right up there with the best of the revenge genre, and earns praise from this critic for its sophisticated brand of humor which kept me in stitches from start to finish.

June 30, 2007 Full Review Source: Providence American | Comment
Providence American

Not even the tacked-on ending, hinting at some future sparks between Brooke and Gary, can lighten the sturm und drang in this break-up.

March 1, 2007 Full Review Source: Film Journal International | Comment
Film Journal International

..."The Break Up" may go down with "Fatal Attraction" as the worst "date" movie of all time.

December 13, 2006 Full Review Source: Nolan's Pop Culture Review | Comment
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for The Break-Up

I like when a movie is titled The Break-Up and people actually BREAK UP! Oops. Spoiler alert. And how nice to see Peter Billingsley's doughy face again from A Christmas Story :~)This isn't a sappy-happy romantic revenge comedy despite its marketing. The semantic misunderstandings between Martians and Venusians are

October 26, 2008
aliceinpunderland

Super Reviewer

Just a movie about a couple who keeps yelling at each other after break-up. Some might not like this movie as it's nothing new to watch. But it's actually taken from reality and most of the parts are really true. They tried to add a bit of comedy in it but I didn't find any of those scenes to be funny. It's an okay

September 24, 2011
3niR
Dead Angel

Super Reviewer

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Latest News for The Break-Up

January 5, 2012:
HBO Stops Supplying Netflix with Discounted Discs
The Hollywood Reporter calls it "a symbolic gesture."

February 8, 2009:
DreamWorks and Universal Sever Ties
DreamWorks and Universal have broken their seven-year distribution agreement, citing "business...

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