L3FTY Reviews "The Heart Break Kid"

Mandingo

Shared on Fri, 03/07/2008 - 15:32



Since I don't have internet at home right now and it's to cold to be outside it really limits my entertainment options.  I've gotten a chance to catch up on a few movies, one of which was the "The Heart Break Kid." 

I don't know where I was when this was in the theaters, but I had never heard of it.  In it's favor, it stars Ben and Jerry Stiller and was directed by the Farrelly Brothers.  I'm not going to bore you with all the little details but here's the basic premise. 

Guy is getting old, feels biological clock ticking
Meets damsel in distress, falls in love
gets married, finds out damsel is a little bit nutty
likes other girl better and ditches new wife for new girl
new girl discovers new wife and rejects him

As you can see it is a fairly rehashed version of boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets another girl in the end.  I know what you're thinking, "not another chick flick with the wife.  But god do I need to get laid......" 

If this movie starred Reese Witherspoon or Meg Ryan that would be very true, but here's where the good news starts...it doesn't.

This movie, although crude and sometimes far fetched, manages to stay funny.  There is certainly no shortage of hilarious moments.  Jerry Stiller nails his usual role as the eccentric crazy old man with a penchant for the poon.  Ben plays the strait man and always maximizes the awkwardness.

The movie really gets rolling about 15 minutes in, right after Eddie (Ben) leaves for his honeymoon with his new wife Lala (Milan Akerman).  He quickly finds out that he really doesn't know this chick at all.  At breakfast milk spurts from her deviated septum which she explains is from all the years of doing blow, what?!!  He also finds that her "job" turns out to simply be volunteering, so much for the dual incomes!  Before their marraige she insisted on no sex but as soon as the honeymoon started she becomes the crazies nympho you've ever seen, screaming at Eddie to "cock her good!"

One of the greatest parts (to me) is where she's in the moment shouting for Eddie to cock her.  We get to see Stiller energetically humping away trying desperately to please her and then she shouts for him to "cock her like a black man," and he goes absolutely nuts.

My minor complaints: The Farrelly bros. could have made Lala seem a little more of a nut job.  After watching this you come away feeling like Eddie was a little flaky and a cheat more than you believe Lala was a crazed psychopath.  The Farrellys use just enough bodily function jokes to get giggles but don't push the boundaries to be particularly ground breaking or memorable.  A t this stage in their careers some of these jokes are getting a little old.  With a run time of a little over 3 hours this movie will struggle to churn out enough content to keep some people interested. 

These are really not big issues considering what this movie is, a crude, laugh out loud comedy.  There are some boobs and a little bit of cursing and one donkey dong, but overall it's a movie that even my prude-ish wife put up with.  The bottom line is: if you like slightly juvenile comedy and don't pretend to be a film critic this movie is enjoyable for at least one run through. With that disclaimer....I would give this a 7ish out of 10.

Comments

MikeTheKnife's picture
Submitted by MikeTheKnife on Fri, 03/07/2008 - 16:21
I got dragged to this by the girlfriend. I found Stiller's character impossible to relate to. The guy just had no balls whatsoever. I guess that's the type of character they wanted to describe, the problem is I didn't give a rat's ass what happened to him. Actually I hoped he would catch fire and die a slow painful death, but my dreams were unrealized.
KingBayman's picture
Submitted by KingBayman on Fri, 03/07/2008 - 17:14
In other words, Ben Stiller played the exact same character he has played in every other movie he's ever been in.

Join our Universe

Connect with 2o2p