Tweet      

2 1/2 Stars

The Farrelly Brothers remake of the 1972 film ‘The Heartbreak Kid’ is a hilarious and endearing film from the modern-day kings of ‘gross-out’ gags. Staying true to form the Farrelly’s have delivered another in a long line of comedies bordering on crudeness and sentimentality sometimes within the same scene. ‘Something About Mary’ star Ben Stiller has found a way to make an unappealing character sympathetic and often very amusing.

Eddie (Stiller) owns a sporting goods store in S.F., but he’s not content with his life until he meets the beautiful Lila (Akerman). A hot romance is followed by a quick wedding and a honeymoon to Mexico for the newlyweds. It’s there that trouble starts, Lila is terribly sun-burnt on the first day and Eddie is left on his own to wonder the beach and local resorts. In doing so he meets Miranda (Monaghan) and instantly realizes he should have never gotten married. The film follows Eddie as he continually lies to both women and repeatedly tries to break off his wedding on the honeymoon.

These scenes are often very funny and the entire film is cast with comedians on their game. Jerry Stiller and Rob Corddry are excellent in their supporting roles as Eddie’s father and best friend, respectively. Malin Akerman is cast here because of her good-looks and her goofy sense of playfulness that brings to mind a young Cameron Diaz. The only one out of place is Monaghan, her character is one-note and it’s hard to understand why Eddie would go through all this pain to date a woman he’s known for only four days. Unfortunately the laughs dry up in the lame third act that centers on Stiller’s attempts to cross the border illegally. I’m not sure who thought this sequence was humorous. It’s not only weak, it’s also derivative of the same joke in ‘Mary’. It seems the Farrelly’s have resorted to remakes and self referential gags, too bad.

Director: Bobby Farrelly, Peter Farrelly
Stars: Ben Stiller, Michelle Monaghan and Malin Akerman