Thanks to Judd Apatow and Co., 2007 has been a good year for comedies. And after Knocked Up and Superbad, two films heavy on raunchy humor and touching storylines, The Heartbreak Kid’s comparatively shallow-feeling emotional arc seem like standard studio fare. Even with those flaws, however, The Heartbreak Kid is still a funny return to R-rated territory for the Farrelly Brothers.
Although the duo of the Farrelly Brothers hasn’t released an R-rated film since 2001’s Say It Isn’t So, Peter Farrelly told The Diamondback in a conference call, “… We just got to the point where we’re … just licking our chops, ready to do an R-rated comedy.”
And as Carlos Mencia (Mind of Mencia), who plays Uncle Tito in The Heartbreak Kid, said in another conference call with The Diamondback, “At no point in time while reading that script [did] I ever go, ‘Man, this needs more edge.’ I never said that.”
The story begins with the unmarried Eddie Cantrow (a graying Ben Stiller, Night at the Museum) attending the wedding of his ex-fiancé. Eddie is mocked by his father (played by Ben’s real-life father Jerry Stiller, Hairspray) and friends about his single status, so Eddie is ready for love when he meets Lila (Malin Akerman, The Brothers Solomon).
Through a series of contrived plot twists, it becomes convenient for Eddie to marry Lila, and he decides to go through with it. But during their honeymoon roadtrip to Mexico, Eddie realizes he made a mistake as he learns of all the unappealing aspects of Lila’s personality. And when Eddie meets the appealing Miranda (Michelle Monaghan, Mission Impossible III), he decides to get out of the marriage as soon as possible.
Stiller is in Meet The Parents mode here, becoming especially squirrelly as he discovers more and more disturbing facts about Lila. This is the same sort of slow burn Stiller did in Parents and Along Came Polly, and it’s just a matter of time until he snaps.
Overall, the script is very funny – the Farrelly Brothers have a gift for creating awkward setups, and a good amount of the dialogue was improvised, said Mencia: “Stuff that we did that was off the cuff ended up in the movie.”
However, the script still struggles with contrived plot points. For example, Eddie is always interrupted when he’s about to tell Miranda the truth about his marriage.
Although the film may seem overly traditional when compared to Knocked Up or Superbad, it doesn’t mean the film isn’t funny. Despite adhering tightly to some studio film conventions, The Heartbreak Kid has consistent laughs, should please crowds and will definitely return the Farrelly Brothers to Hollywood’s comedy elite.
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