Review

Review Date: 4-June-06
Spoiler Rating: Low
Juju Judgment: Just OK

The Break-Up (2006)

So I'm wondering why anyone would make this movie.

Of course the studio is out for money and is therefore billing "The Break-Up" as a romantic comedy (in a summer that has so far had none) starring Jennifer Aniston (whom everybody likes even though she's not quite a movie star) and Vince Vaughn (the major draw from last summer's romantic comedy hit "Wedding Crashers"). The poster invites potential viewers to pick a side in the pop-culture gender war, and the trailer promises goofy cohabitational mayhem and a fair bit of Aniston's skin. So far, so good.

But it turns out that "The Break-Up" isn't a comedy, at least not where Aniston and Vaughn are concerned. Playing Brooke and Gary, a Chicago couple who share a condominium, the real-life lovers spend their screen time ripping their relationship and home life to shreds. Surprise! and ouch! The movie centers around an honest-to-god break-up, which is not a laughable thing. (And who wants to pay to watch that?) This leads me to conclude that one or both of the writers, Jeremy Garelick and Jay Lavender, regarded the script as a way to process and purge a nasty chapter of personal history.

It's too bad for them that the studio's goals don't jibe with theirs, and especially bad for director Peyton Reed, who must be looking to score after the failure of "Down with Love." He gets stuck trying to reconcile the serious main story with the fluff the bottom line requires, like supporting characters who pop up all over the place trying to provide comic relief. Every last one of them is strained, incongruous, and patently unfunny, from Gary's sometimes idiotic, sometimes wise best friend (Jon Favreau) to Brooke's self-obsessed boss at the art gallery (Judy Davis) and many others not worth mention. Then there are the sorry rip-offs from real romantic comedies like the singing scene from "My Best Friend's Wedding" and the waxing scene from "The 40-Year-Old Virgin." The overall effect is of two antithetical designs being forced together into a common space, rather like Brooke and Gary in their once-happy home. Uncomfortable.

"The Break-Up" might make sense for its stars, however, who stand out above the general disorder (and have a lot to prove with this movie). Brooke and Gary aren't particularly likable, intelligent, or interesting, but Aniston and Vaughn both display a knack for communicating average people's average pain. (They need to prove their bankability, yes, but I'm assuming they have artistic aspirations of their own.) Vaughn, who also produced the film, has the additional benefit of playing the character who grows from the experience. Like the writers, he appears to have something to get off his (barrel-sized) chest about the American Guy's resistance to growing up, and how he eventually gets there.

When all the contributors have had their say, "The Break-Up" is neither humorous nor heartbreaking, terrific nor terrible. It's odd and awkward and probably won't give anyone (audience included) what they hoped for.

Copyright © 2006 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.