The dumbing down of the central joke just heightens its nastiness
The Heartbreak Kid (2007)
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Reviews Counted:151
Fresh:46
Rotten:105
Average Rating:4.7/10
Consensus: Despite some amiable performances, The Heartbreak Kid is neither as daring nor as funny as the Farrelly Brothers' earlier films.
Theatrical Release:Oct 5, 2007 Wide
Box Office: $36,771,343
Synopsis: The Farrelly Brothers add their trademark bounty of bodily functions to this remake of Elaine May's 1972 comedy, THE HEARTBREAK KID. This time around Ben Stiller plays Eddie Cantrow, a 40-year-old... The Farrelly Brothers add their trademark bounty of bodily functions to this remake of Elaine May's 1972 comedy, THE HEARTBREAK KID. This time around Ben Stiller plays Eddie Cantrow, a 40-year-old bachelor who is tired of having his foulmouthed father (Jerry Stiller) and henpecked friend (Rob Corddry) give him a hard time for not being married. So when he meets the seemingly perfect Lila (Malin Ackerman), he decides to marry her--despite knowing her for only six weeks. On their honeymoon in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, he realizes his mistake when Lila reveals her true colors, which turn out to be quite ugly. While Lila recovers from a sunburn, Eddie meets fellow vacationer Miranda (Michelle Monaghan) and falls in love. He must break the news to both women before they find out the truth. After the more standard romantic comedy of FEVER PITCH, Bobby and Peter Farrelly are back to the gross-out comedy that made them famous in films such as THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY. This is the first time they've re-teamed with Stiller since that landmark film, and it proves a far better marriage than Eddie and Lila's. Ackerman may be most famous to date for a small role in HAROLD & KUMAR GO TO WHITE CASTLE, but she's fearless in this part. The Farrellys have always been fans of bodily humor, and Ackerman's Lila gets to be the butt of the joke most often, largely thanks to her character's deviated septum. There are several moments here that threaten to top the infamous hair-gel scene in THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY as far as groans and giggles go. [More]
Starring: Ben Stiller, Michelle Monaghan, Malin Akerman, Jerry Stiller
Starring: Ben Stiller, Michelle Monaghan, Malin Akerman, Jerry Stiller, Rob Corddry, Carlos Mencia
Director: Peter Farrelly, Bobby Farrelly
Director: Peter Farrelly, Bobby Farrelly
Screenwriter: Scot Armstrong, Kevin Barnett, Leslie Dixon, Bobby Farrelly, Peter Farrelly
Producer: Ted Field, Bradley Thomas
Composer: Brendan Ryan, Bill Ryan
Studio: Paramount Pictures
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Reviews for The Heartbreak Kid
If The Heartbreak Kid doesn't go totally wrong, its big problem is that doesn't really go anywhere. It just sort of lies there, like dumb Lila on the beach, waiting to turn gold.
[The] 2007 remake delivers a lot of laughs despite the fact we're clearly supposed to root for and feel sorry for the cad ... no matter how squirmy or awful his actions.
Bobby and Peter Farrelly don't bring any fresh insight or relevance to their remake of The Heartbreak Kid. Mainly, they've taken a decent comedy and turned it into a...decent comedy.
If you watch this film, don’t expect much and you may not be too disappointed. Now there’s a ringing endorsement for ya!
The original's premise has been stripped of anything to do with upward mobility, and except for one shot involving a Prince Albert, the Farrellys' signature shock humor is largely absent.
It's disappointing to see a comic talent like Ben Stiller slum it in these studio-grade romantic comedies.
It's like watching the younger brother of There's Something About Mary: it's brash and talks too loud, it's a bit snotty and it so wants to be as cool as its older sibling.
The elements with which the Farrellys transcend mere gross-out -- pacing, inspired and quirky performances, good writing with an underlying heart -- are missing here, which exposes the underlying creepiness at the heart of the film.
The cast is pitch perfect, with Stiller adding another notable character to his resumé.
Most jokes land with a thud--particularly the gross-out gags, which nearly ten years after Mary now just feel played out.
The "illegal alien" gag is a lazy joke, contingent on ridiculing otherness in the most insipid ways. Bitches, Mexicans, they all be crazy.
This sporadically funny Farrellys farce is worth watching (mostly) for Stiller (Ben) and the game Akerman (Malin) in the leads.
Face it: If you've seen one deviated septum gag, you've seen them all.
Latest News for The Heartbreak Kid
March 04, 2008:
Rush Hour 3 Takes '07 DVD Rental Crown
It may not have been quite the box-office phenomenon that its predecessors were -- and critics may have disliked it enough to keep it down at 20 percent on the Tomatometer --... More...
November 28, 2007:
Mr. Skin Reveals Top 20 Nude Scenes of 2007
In an age of fast-rising Hollywood production costs, the young actresses who strive to keep movie budgets down -- specifically in the wardrobe department -- deserve to be saluted. More...
October 24, 2007:
Farrellys Fight for Three Stooges
The Three Stooges was supposed to be the Farrelly Brothers' next movie after The Heartbreak Kid in the vein of the old Stooges shorts. Sounds like a much better idea than Stuck... More...
October 21, 2007:
Besides the morally-objectionable storyline, the Farrellys are up to their usual tricks. This means they fill the screen with gratuitous nudity, gross-out bodily function humor, graphically-depicted soft porn and meanspirited potshots at assorted ethnic g ![]()
More...
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 15% 15% | The Ugly Truth |
| 98% 98% | Up |
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| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 36% 36% | Angels & Demons |
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| 45% 45% | Shorts |
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