Review: The Break-Up (2006)
- From: <dnb@xxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 17 Jun 2006 23:38:52 -0400
THE BREAK-UP
A film review by David N. Butterworth
Copyright 2006 David N. Butterworth
** (out of ****)
On the strength of its trailer you could be excused for expecting
the "romantic comedy" "The Break-Up" to be a laugh riot about a couple
(played by Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston) on the outs. Vaughn and
Aniston are fine comedic actors, separately if not together, so they
certainly know the territory extremely well. But Peyton Reed's film is
not that movie. Instead, it's a movie that takes the all-too familiar
theme of marital (or in this case mutual, since Gary and Brooke aren't
exactly married) dissatisfaction and thrusts it down our throats with
unerring accuracy. And in so doing it makes us squirm. Too many times
during "The Break-Up" did I say to myself "this isn't funny" and I
wasn't referring to the jokes or the attempts at humor, some of which
actually work. I was referring to the situation itself, the actual
context of the piece. It's just *too* uncomfortable. How can we feel
sorry for and/or sympathetic towards these people when we're expected
to laugh at their foibles, their frustrations, and their failings?
Screenwriters Jeremy Garelick and Jay Lavender are certainly capable of
writing funny dialogue and establishing broadly comic situations. What
they can't do, of course, is to eliminate the overwhelming sadness at
their story's core. On the acting front Vaughn pencils in yet another
semi-likable goof the likes of which he's channeled a lot lately
("Wedding Crashers," "Dodgeball") whereas Aniston shows some real and
considerable depth. Also notable in smaller but no less effective
roles are Vincent D'Onofrio as Gary's entrepreneurially challenged
brother Dennis and Judy Davis as Marilyn Dean, the frightening
proprietor of the Chicago art gallery Brooke manages.
--
David N. Butterworth
dnb@xxxxxxx
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