Movie Review: The Break-Up

By Ron Wilkinson Jun 1, 2006, 7:30 GMT

Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston star in The Break-Up, which starts where most romantic comedies end: after boy and girl have met, fallen in love, moved in to start their happily-ever-after...and right when they wind up driving each other crazy. Pushed to the breaking-up point after their latest "why can\'t you do this one little thing for me?" argument, art dealer Brooke (Aniston) calls it quits with her boyfriend, Gary ...more

Just when you thought all the Rom-Com plots were used up, writers Garelick, Lavender and writer - lead actor Vince Vaughn come up with a new angle: start the romance with the break-up and go backwards.

If you think that is great screen writing, this film will be a real scream for you.

On the other hand if you are looking for several back-to-back “Friends” episodes strung together into a non-stop Aniston comedy-fest this one will leave you about five beers short of a six pack. That is not to say Ms. Aniston is not good in this film. But when will she get some material?

She tries hard and she is fun to watch but either she is stuck in a TV mode or she is stuck with second string TV writers because she can’t keep up the momentum.  And how could we expect her to?  Vince Vaughn is a big package to drag through an entire feature length film.

Which leads us to the most remarkable billing boondoggle in years: Vaughn is credited over Aniston.

And he isn’t funny.  Not hardly at all.

His older brother played by Vincent D'Onofrio is funnier and he looks like Pooh-Bear back from “The Salton Sea” with his nose glued back on and wearing a really bad suit. But the people at central casting did everything they could to surround the male lead with male supporting actors who were even less funny than he was.  And less articulate.

Thank goodness they didn’t give D’Onofrio any lines.  Three more and he would have stolen the show.  Even in that suit.

In fairness, the film is not just about being funny all the time.  Unfortunately!

It is about values and emotions that run deeper than mere humor. It is about appreciating people as human beings and not just cool, hip, sex objects. And it is about how a person can be cool and still have personal problems, in a funny sort of way. By the way, if there are any film lovers out there who thought all of the stereotypical hip young urban singles were planted in New York City, you owe it to yourself to see this movie. They are in the Second City, too.

As are all of the stereotypical hip young urban bars where the men end up sipping prime-time TV beer while they sort out their feelings with way too together bar-tenders. How come all the rest of us get are sociopathic pock-marked fetal alcohol syndrome adults to talk with when we go to dirty beat-up bars late at night after being kicked out of our apartments?  Where is the understanding for us?  And how does Vince look so good after spending all night drinking liqueur straight from the bottle? 

What’s the message here--if you’re cool nothing can hurt you?

OK, the good news. Judy Davis plays art gallery owner Marilyn Dean whose very breath could start the charcoal for the barbeque.  And that is meant as a compliment.

Ms. Davis has either won or been nominated for more awards than the entire rest of the cast combined.  Better yet, like Ms. Aniston, she is funny. The match up between the two, boss and underling, in the workplace at a time of female crisis is priceless. The other skits in the film...the baseball games, the video games, the card games, sipping beer in the imitation “Cheers” bars...there may be some let-down in the audience for those who expected something different.

There may be some let-down for those who did not find Vince in that last dirty bar. There may be some let-down for those who are still carrying that old torch for comedy.

But the film is not just about being funny.  It is also about knowing who you are, getting in touch with your inner most feelings and, well, doing dishes for the one you love once in a while.

That is Mr. Vaughn’s lot in this film and he has to live with it. Does he get there in the end?

You will have to watch the film to see.

They got my $10 and they will get yours too.  Will the film make a few men think twice before they take their significant others for granted ever again?  No.  But when they finally get kicked out they can take solace in the fact that it happened to a great and really cool guy like Vince.  Just look at him.  First billing over Jennifer Aniston.

See the film. She’s good.

Wide Release USA June 2, 2006  MPAA: Rated PG-13 for sexual content, some nudity and language