Review of The Heartbreak Kid (2007) by Xou X — 25 Nov 2009

Its believable enough to know that Lila(Malin Ackerman) is annoying and Eddie(Ben Stiller) is desperate and unsure. To that remark of strong performances, I guess we owe them a round of applause. But niether is its formula or humour all that special in typical romcoms as the spicy elements is gift wrapped to specifically ruin the mood. And to that discovery, there is no room for love in the Heartbreak Kid as we leave it on the daylight and watch it slowly die a painful death.

Eddie is a sporting goods store owner whos life is a mess because he makes it so. Upon whining about his life, he comes across what seems like a sweet blonde called Lila who got attacked by some homeless thief on a bike. Of course, love is the greatest thing and in a roulette of kisses, the two marry upon landing in Canto. And then there is the innocent girl Miranda(Michelle Monaghan) that we all feel sorry for. Often falling in love with liars who admit that their conscience got the better of them. But enough of the charades. She is the soft spot and everyone are complete jerks.

When a character says that the scenery(which is beautiful) looks better then the brochure, what she really means is that the brochure looks better then the movie. It formulatic expression of destined love seems to poppy even for teens and the humour is just plain wrong. Admittingly, Danny Mcbride and Jerry Stiller put up fine lines of quirky laughs but Ben Stillers approach at humour with rough sex and premature infidelity is so offsetting. We know what the characters are capable of and what their flaws are but expressing them on every corner instead of building a solid story is just filmwise silly. Melodrama does not honor corny storylines. If it didnt do it on Titanic, it shouldnt be able to do it here.

Its heartbreaking to watch this but if I laughed a little, its a pass.