Does high definition make the film any funnier? Well, not really. There are still some laughs to be found in this Farrelly Brothers’ reimaging of the Elaine May classic, but the bigger laughs are in the ironic original and not this fart joke baked remake.
Eddie (Ben Stiller) is a bit of a sad sack. All of his pals are getting married and his lascivious Dad (real life dad Jerry Stiller, talk about typecasting) thinks he should be bedding as many women as he can. Eddie just wants more out of a relationship than a one night stand.
After attending his ex-girlfriend’s wedding he’s feeling even more down, but when he sees a girl named Lila (Malin Akerman) get her purse snatched he becomes her knight in shining armor. They start dating but when she is going to have to move away Eddie spontaneously proposes. However, as they drive to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico for their honeymoon Eddie starts to notice little things in Lila that he didn’t see before. In fact, she starts to get on his nerves right away.
When she gets hideous sunburn after not listening to his advice to put on some sunscreen, she’s confined to their room. This has Eddie spending time away from his annoying new wife and he comes across Miranda (Michelle Monaghan) and her vacationing family. Eddie starts to realize that Miranda is the girl of his dreams and that maybe he popped the question to Lila a bit too soon. He starts to court Miranda, but now has to keep Lila from finding out that he’s shopping around for a new wife.
I can recall catching the Elaine May directed original version on TV late one night and thinking that the film was somewhat of a minor classic. The original even garnered two Academy Award nominations.
The remake had a snowball’s chance in hell of that happening and was even used as the but of a joke told by Robert Downey Jr. in a MTV skit promoting Tropic Thunder (see it on the two-disc edition of that one).
The Farrelly Brother’s run the plot through their comedy machine and the product that plunks out on the other side isn’t exactly going to have “classic” applied to it. They go for the gross out humor and where the original might’ve had some gentle jibes they put a fart joke in its place.
Sure, some of those jokes had me rolling in the aisles but I still preferred the “less” that was in the original. They call it “over the top” for a reason. What doesn’t help is that you really can’t connect with Stiller’s character. His dumping of his wife seems rather cruel when you get down to it.
I suppose we all have a little doubt when it comes to knowing if we made the right choice when we said “I do,” but Lila doesn’t seem like too much of a monster. It’s not like Eddie doesn’t have some issues of his own.
The original was rated PG and this redo certainly earns its R-rating. The film is presented this time in the glory of high definition, but it doesn’t help it earn anymore stars in the final tally – no matter how outstanding the transfer (and it is a nice one).
The Heartbreak Kid is presented in a 1080p high definition transfer (2.35:1). Special features include a commentary by the Farrelly Brothers. All of the other special features are presented in standard definition, save for the films trailer which is presented in high definition. The 16 minute “The Farrelly Brothers in the French Tradition” is about how the brothers came to work together and how they do it.
The 5-minute “Ben and Jerry” is about how the Stiller’s enjoy working together. The 3-minute “Heartbreak Halloween” is about a Halloween party that was thrown on the set. The 8-minute “Egg Toss” is also about a contest that was formed on set to relieve the tension. Next is a 4-minute gag reel and 7 minute of deleted scenes.
The Heartbreak Kid is a film that fans of the Farrelly brothers may revel in and there are some gross out laughs to be found. As a film it’s rather heartbreaking in that the original was so much better.
The Heartbreak Kid [Blu-ray] is now available at Amazon . Visit the DVD database for more information.
Your Talkback on this Story