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The Break-Up is an interesting movie. I was compelled to watch it because the trailer was fairly amusing. It was in interesting premise that vaguely reminded me of a "War of the Roses" for this generation. Would it be as violent and sadistic as "War of the Roses"? Nope.

Directed by Peyton Reed (Bring It On, Down With Love) the movie has some great moments and also some low moments. Billed as a comedy, the most interesting aspect of The Break-Up is how the ending would end. Would this be a typical romantic comedy? Or will it surprise us in the end?

The movie starts off with Gary Grobowski (Vince Vaughn) trying to pick up Brooke Meyers (Jennifer Aniston). Gary is your typical guy who loves sports and is inconsiderate of the needs of his girlfriend. Brooke seems to be out of Gary's league, but for some reason, she still really loves Gary.

So after a fiasco with the three lemon centerpiece and the disastrous dinner that followed, Brooke decides (in a female logic moment) that she will break up with Gary to force him to change. Gary is completely clueless to the real reason for the break-up. Thus the vindictive cat-and-mouse game is played between the couple/ex-couple. Brooke continues with her female logic and Gary continues with his male ignorance. Will Brooke and Gary get back together? Watch the movie.

Now the critics really killed The Break-Up. There were poor reviews everywhere. The movie did okay on its opening weekend but it promptly nose-dived after the first week. Evidently the star power of Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn isn't as powerful as Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. Anyways, I found the movie to be enjoyable throughout and I liked how the movie was resolved. The screenwriters played on the stereotypes of both men and women and this could have been construed as simple to many. However, I think the writers really identified with many audience members. Women do think like that and men certainly behave like Gary does. I know I've done it many times and I never seem to understand the logic or thinking process my girlfriend goes through (no matter how many times she tries explaining it, I simply don't get it). It just goes to show that communication is so important in a relationship. So for all those couples out there, go watch this movie to learn what NOT to do. Hehe.

The acting in the movie was okay at best. Vince Vaughn's character is a typical Vince Vaughn character. A witty, semi-attractive male, who embodies general male stereotypes. Vince doesn't need to deviate too much from the other roles he's had in movies. Although there isn't much change in Vince's roles, I still found his character amusing. If Adam Sandler could play the same character over and over again, why not Vince Vaughn? Jennifer Aniston was also okay in the movie. I've never really enjoyed her acting. In fact, I really disliked her in the TV show Friends. I was relieved to find out that Brooke was nothing like Rachel from Friends. As a guy, I felt for Brooke during the movie. She had no idea that her actions were having the opposite affect of what she intended and she kept making mistake after mistake.

The supporting cast was decent as well. With Jon Favreau (Johnny O) playing a somewhat deranged best friend for Gary and Joey Lauren Adams (Addie) comes back from obscurity to play the happily married and wise best friend for Brooke. Speaking of obscurity, Jason Bateman was cast for the part of Riggleman, the opportunistic realtor/friend of the couple. It's been a long time since I've seen Bateman in anything.

Since most comedies don't spend huge amounts on sets and special effects, there's not point in really talking about it. The Break-Up is a romantic comedy set in Chicago, a bustling metropolis. Beautiful downtown Chicago is barely used throughout the movie. Shot mostly indoors, the movie's locations were just a backdrop to the movie. It could have been set in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, or any other countless cities. It just didn't really matter, which really was a shame. Sure, Gary and Brooke met at a baseball game but how cliché is that?

The Break-Up was an enjoyable movie. It wasn't really worth full admission (thank you Rainbow Cinemas!) and is best viewed as a DVD rental. I would have given the movie a three rating but I really enjoyed the ending so that bumped up the score to a decent four. In a summer full of blockbuster movies, The Break-Up is something you can save for a later date.

Dragoncrypt 7/13/2006 9:56:39 PM