2008 Woodie Awards
Farrelly brothers lack humor in 'Heartbreak'
Joseph Froemming
Issue date: 10/11/07 Section: Intermission
- Page 1 of 1
After nearly a decade since the Farrelly brothers made "There's Something About Mary," they have teamed up once again with Ben Stiller for another joyful stab at a romantic comedy with "The Heartbreak Kid."
Unfortunately, this time around, there's something lacking in the funny department.
"The Heartbreak Kid" is about a 40-year-old bachelor named Eddie Cantrow, an owner of an athletic supply store who is pressured by his father Doc (played excellently by Jerry Stiller, Ben Stiller's real father) and his friend Mac (also excellently played by "The Daily Show" alumnus Rob Corddry).
On a whim, Eddie marries Lila, a woman he meets on the street who has just been mugged. Their honeymoon brings them to Mexico, where Eddie finally gets to know what his new bride is really like.
After finding out the lurid details of Lila's past that includes a heavy debt, no job and a really bad cocaine problem, Eddie becomes distraught and ends up meeting another woman named Miranda, whom he believes is the one.
The rest of the film follows Eddie's antics with pursuing his new love interest, Miranda, while managing his problems with his new wife Lila.
The humor in this film is mostly generic and rehashed jokes of any number of romantic comedies. It is somewhat forgivable being that this is a remake of another film that was released in 1972 and based off a Neil Simon screenplay.
That does not give the filmmakers much wiggle room to make this fresh.
Though the film fails to deliver for the most part, Jerry Stiller and Corddry's performances make the film watchable. Jerry Stiller's character Doc is a hilarious, perverted old man who embarrasses his son Eddie any chance he gets.
Corddry plays Mac, Eddie's best friend and a not-so happily married man. Perhaps the funniest parts of this film are when Mac insists he loves the married life only to have those scenes contrasted with his acting like an unhappy lapdog for his wife.
Ben Stiller's performance of Eddie is decent, but is nothing to write home about. His character in "The Heartbreak Kid" is almost interchangeable with his character in "There's Something About Mary." Both are really awkward guys who have difficulty managing their love lives.
If the film had more scenes between Eddie, Mac and his father, it might have worked better.
Then there is Carlos Mencia's role as Uncle Tito, which could have been a really hilarious character. Unfortunately, Mencia wearing a fake mustache and a goofy looking wig while playing a sad stereotypical Mexican only makes this film a little worse.
Indeed, the majority of this film has the viewers follow uninteresting characters engaging in recycled scenarios with humorless fart jokes thrown in.
Overall, this film falls between the categories of bad and barely watchable.
The soundtrack is decent, being almost all David Bowie songs, but a soundtrack alone cannot save an awful film.
Unfortunately, this time around, there's something lacking in the funny department.
"The Heartbreak Kid" is about a 40-year-old bachelor named Eddie Cantrow, an owner of an athletic supply store who is pressured by his father Doc (played excellently by Jerry Stiller, Ben Stiller's real father) and his friend Mac (also excellently played by "The Daily Show" alumnus Rob Corddry).
On a whim, Eddie marries Lila, a woman he meets on the street who has just been mugged. Their honeymoon brings them to Mexico, where Eddie finally gets to know what his new bride is really like.
After finding out the lurid details of Lila's past that includes a heavy debt, no job and a really bad cocaine problem, Eddie becomes distraught and ends up meeting another woman named Miranda, whom he believes is the one.
The rest of the film follows Eddie's antics with pursuing his new love interest, Miranda, while managing his problems with his new wife Lila.
The humor in this film is mostly generic and rehashed jokes of any number of romantic comedies. It is somewhat forgivable being that this is a remake of another film that was released in 1972 and based off a Neil Simon screenplay.
That does not give the filmmakers much wiggle room to make this fresh.
Though the film fails to deliver for the most part, Jerry Stiller and Corddry's performances make the film watchable. Jerry Stiller's character Doc is a hilarious, perverted old man who embarrasses his son Eddie any chance he gets.
Corddry plays Mac, Eddie's best friend and a not-so happily married man. Perhaps the funniest parts of this film are when Mac insists he loves the married life only to have those scenes contrasted with his acting like an unhappy lapdog for his wife.
Ben Stiller's performance of Eddie is decent, but is nothing to write home about. His character in "The Heartbreak Kid" is almost interchangeable with his character in "There's Something About Mary." Both are really awkward guys who have difficulty managing their love lives.
If the film had more scenes between Eddie, Mac and his father, it might have worked better.
Then there is Carlos Mencia's role as Uncle Tito, which could have been a really hilarious character. Unfortunately, Mencia wearing a fake mustache and a goofy looking wig while playing a sad stereotypical Mexican only makes this film a little worse.
Indeed, the majority of this film has the viewers follow uninteresting characters engaging in recycled scenarios with humorless fart jokes thrown in.
Overall, this film falls between the categories of bad and barely watchable.
The soundtrack is decent, being almost all David Bowie songs, but a soundtrack alone cannot save an awful film.