Stiller’s latest:
Heartbreaking film experience

At the Movies
By Senitra Horbrook

Nine years after releasing one of the funniest gross-out comedies in American cinema, writer/director siblings Peter and Bobby Farrelly and Ben Stiller reunite for The Heartbreak Kid.
Stiller’s career has flourished since There’s Something About Mary came out in 1998. He has honed his comedic chops in movies like Meet the Parents, Dodgeball and Starsky and Hutch.
Meanwhile, the nine years haven’t been so kind to the Farrelly brothers, who have added the duds Stuck on You and Shallow Hal to their list of credits.
Therefore, one had to wonder what this newest partnership between Stiller and the Farrelly brothers would bring to the table. Would it be another Farrelly dud or would Stiller have another hit on his hands?
I’d have to say The Heartbreak Kid is more of a dud than a hit.
Knowing that The Heartbreak Kid was an R-rated comedy, I had a feeling it would be crude and rude. That couldn’t be truer. There are some extremely explicit sex scenes and lots of obscene language. The fact that many of the obscenities are uttered by 80-year-old Jerry Stiller (Ben Stiller’s real father and the father of his movie character) doesn’t make them funny, so much as make them weird.
Based on the 1972 Neil Simon-Elaine May film of the same name, The Heartbreak Kid is about a man who realizes on his honeymoon that he married the wrong woman. In the 2007 version, Stiller plays Eddie Cantrow, a perpetually single guy. Because of pressures from Dad Doc (Jerry Stiller) and friend Mac (Rob Corddry), Eddie thinks he must marry as soon as possible. So when he rescues pretty Lila (Malin Akerman) from a mugger, romance ensues.
After a six-week courtship, Eddie and Lila marry. They head to Mexico on their honeymoon — and Eddie realizes Lila is not quite the woman he thought he had married. I won’t spoil the movie here, but basically watching their marriage unravel because of Lila’s "quirks" is when the movie is funniest. That is, aside from the uncomfortable sex scenes.
When Lila gets a bad sunburn and refuses to leave the room, Eddie heads out on his own and meets Miranda (Michelle Monaghan), who is at the resort for a family reunion.
Of course, Eddie can never find the right time to tell Miranda that he’s on his honeymoon, and all the while they’re falling for each other.
The biggest problem with The Heartbreak Kid is that it doesn’t make you care about the characters. Eddie is a jerk who doesn’t redeem himself, even though you would expect it at the end. Lila is not very endearing either. Miranda is sweet and wholesome, but she didn’t get enough screen time to make me care what happened to her one way or another.
Stereotypes are also plentiful in this movie, from Southerners (Miranda’s family) to Mexicans (the wise-cracking desk clerk Uncle Tito, played by Carlos Mencia).
I wanted to like The Heartbreak Kid. I’m a fan of Ben Stiller, even though he usually plays the same type of unlucky-in-love character.
Unfortunately, the lack of laughs makes The Heartbreak Kid one to skip in the theater. ••
Movie Grade: C