Directed by: Bobby and Peter Farrelly
Cast: Ben and Jerry Stiller, Michelle Monaghan, Malin Akerman
Rated:R

• Official Website
  

If at first you don't succeed, cheat, cheat again. Is it merely a singular point of view or does Ben Stiller play the same misfortunate character in all of his movies? Like many of his previous projects, he portrays a person tossed haphazardly into the midst of those members of society, whose idiosyncrasies leave one to logically conclude that they are a few sandwiches short of a full picnic basket.

Edward Cantrow (B. Stiller) is an early 40-something, never been married, and an owner of a sporting goods store. His father (J. Stiller) is a porno-obsessed septuagenarian, whose obnoxious and annoyingly persistent methods humorously and crassly encourage his son to get his freak on.

After attending his ex-fiance's wedding, and no, you didn't read that incorrectly, Edward decides that maybe it is time he put an end to finding all the negatives in the girls he dates and tries instead to find the positives. With this said, serendipity comes to the rescue and causes him to come face to face with the worst of all destinies. True, it is the sort of the thing that his pushy father has been preaching about, however grotesquely, but as the movie progresses, it takes the audience down a rather frightful winding road.

Edward witnesses a purse-snatching, and after failing to recover said stolen goods, as a rising hero would be expected to do, he opts to check up on the poor Lila (Akerman), a.k.a. damsel-in-distress, and her freshly washed laundry. After confirming that both she and her garments are okay, barring the fact that her purse with her entire life inside it is gone, he sends her on her way.

Realizing that there was a "connection" and finding nothing left but a pair of her David Bowie-clad panties, Edward experiences a "Cinderella moment". No, he doesn't go around making women try on the panties until he finds his lost love, but, alas, it is the fair Lila that comes through and finds Edward. They strike up a passionate romance and live happily ever after...NOT! One would be inclined to think that everything in Edward's little contrite world seemed to suddenly fall into place, but not so fast. After all the movie is called The Heartbreak Kid.

A last minute, unexpected notice causes Lila to drop the bomb on Edward. Her environmental research group has elected to send her to Rodderdam, Holland, because it is company policy not to relocate married couples. So what is a love-stricken guy to do? Hmmm...Jeopardy music, maestro, please...What is get married to keep the girl in the country? Yes! That's it! Well, now, hold on.

Edward, whilst on his honeymoon, gets the education of his life. Lila has some skeletons in her closet that Edward discovers, and her unquenchable affection for cheesy, sappy pop music, along with her deviated septum, are just tips of the iceberg.

This is where the movie's plot begins to snowball. Edward meets up with another girl, Miranda (Monaghan) and her collection of red-neck cousins. He strikes up an affair with her—yes, while still on his honeymoon...and aside from the slight...tiny...minor rumor that Edward killed his first wife with an ice pick, insidiously spread by diabolic, identical twin teen brothers (Michael and Nicholas Kromke), we find ourselves rooting for Edward and Miranda to cultivate their adulterous relationship.

Now here's the sixty-four thousand dollar question. What kind of audience would this movie attract? Well, if one takes into consideration the outrageous crudeness and coarseness of the conversations that take place between Edward and his father, the graphic sex scenes and explicit "pillow talk" between Edward and Lila, and the brief yet disturbing scene of "traditional Mexican folk dancing", one would logically conclude that a handful of thoroughly inebriated frat brothers would find this movie right up their alley.

If you're looking for a flick that contains an endless supply of site gags, slapstick, crude humor that focuses on bodily functions, kinky sex and sophomoric fart jokes, and add to it the less-than-flattering commentary on the institution of marriage, then this movie is just for you!

---

Comments

Add New Search RSS

Write comment
Name:
Email:	do not notifynotify
Title:
	Please input the anti-spam code that you can read in the image.

3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."