Movie & Entertainment Blog: THE HEARTBREAK KID (2007)

Synopsis :
After years of bachelorhood and ample pressure from his father, Doc, and best friend Mac, Eddie Cantrow starts to wonder if he is being too picky about the women he meets. So when a chance encounter with an alluring blonde named Lila leads to a sweet romance, Eddie impulsively proposes. But right after the wedding, as the newlyweds get to know each other on the drive down the California coast, Eddie begins to realize he's made a terrible mistake. Soon after reaching their exotic Mexican hideaway, he falls for the down-to-earth Miranda, who has no clue he's on his honeymoon. Now Eddie has to find a way to extricate himself from his days-old marriage without losing the girl of his dreams.

Synopsis in Bahasa :
Pada hari ketiga bulan madunya, Eddie Cantrow (Ben Stiller) menyadari bahwa akhirnya ia menemukan cinta sejatinya. Akan tetapi itu tidak berlaku untuk pasangan barunya.

Setelah beberapa tahun membujang dan ditekan oleh ayahnya, Doc (Jerry Stiller) dan sahabatnya Mac(Rob Corddry) mulai berkencan dengan Lila yang sangat seksi dan nampak hebat. Eddy berharap ini menjadi kesempatan terakhirnya dalam hal cinta, perkawinan, dan kebahagiaan.

Namun, saat bulan madu mereka di Meksiko yang cerah, Lila menampakkan sifatnya yang buruk dan Eddie menemui Miranda, wanita yang ia yakini adalah belahan jiwanya. Eddie harus menjauhkan istrinya yang semakin mengerikan saat ia mencoba merayu gadis impiannya.

Review in Bahasa by Agung "si mbot" Nugroho :

Yang menarik dari film ini adalah, alur ceritanya dibangun dengan latar belakang yang kuat. Kenapa tokoh Eddie yang tadinya takut kawin bisa 'berani' mengawini orang yang baru dia kenal selama 6 minggu, kenapa Miranda bisa nggak tau bahwa Eddie udah beristri, dan kenapa Lila bisa nggak tau Eddie pacaran lagi sama orang lain di tengah bulan madu mereka - semua dikasih latar belakang yang menurut gue cukup logis.

Selain itu, yang juga gue suka dari film ini adalah: semua tokohnya adalah 'manusia biasa'. Nggak tokoh yang dipaksakan jadi super bego, super culas, atau super gila untuk memancing tawa penonton. Semuanya adalah sosok-sosok yang biasa aja, yang mungkin kita temui dalam kehidupan nyata. Keadaan lah yang bkin mereka terlibat dalam situasi yang menggelikan - sebagaimana layaknya sebuah sitcom.
Lagipula, memang adegan2 dalam film ini nggak seluruhnya dirancang untuk memancing penonton ketawa, kok. Yang ada malah pentonton diajak ikutan introspeksi, bila mereka berada dalam situasi yang sama, apa yang akan mereka lakukan?

Catatan khusus buat Malin Akerman yang dengan sukses berubah drastis dari cewek menggiurkan di awal film, jadi makhluk menjijikkan di tengah film. Mudah-mudahan setelah ini dia dapet peran-peran yang lebih menjanjikan.

Yang terakhir, film ini gue suka karena sampe adegan terakhir gue nggak bisa nebak akan gimana endingnya. Bahkan sampe beberapa detik menjelang film selesai, masih ada satu kejutan lagi buat penonton.

Memang tetep ada beberapa adegan yang sedikit dilebih-lebihkan, tapi secara umum ini film yang memuaskan gue - baik secara emosional maupun rasional , sehingga dia layak dapet 5 bintang. Film yang sangat gue rekomendasikan untuk ditonton untuk semua orang, kecuali ya itu tadi... bagi para jomblo!

Review by walkontheocean2007 :
The Farrelly brothers hooked us all with "There's Something about Mary".

It's been downhill ever since. Can anyone say "Me, Myself and Irene?"

Are dildo jokes really that funny if you've already graduated from 8th grade?

Dark, unfunny, and yet still somehow predictable. The worst of all worlds.

It seems that Stiller's tired old schtick and the lack of new ideas from the Farrelly brothers is causing them to reach to new levels of grotesque disgust. Count me out. It's like listening to the degenerate in the back of the room in 7th grade who keeps making lewder jokes to get your attention, and after high school goes to prison.

Review by Willie Waffle :
The Heartbreak Kid is an average comedy with moments of hilarity, but more moments of blah. Co-writers/directors Peter and Bobby Farrelly revived the gross out humor that has become more commonplace in comedies over the last 10 years, but The Heartbreak Kid shows they have been surpassed by the next generation of outrageous comedy auteurs, led by Judd Apatow, who has added some heart and soul to the craziness in ways the Farrellys want to in this movie, but fall short in doing so.

You can feel the Farrellys and the other co-writers (Scot Armstrong, Leslie Dixon and Kevin Barnett, based on the screenplay by Neil Simon, who I’m sure never intended to include bestiality in the final product like we have here) struggling to give Eddie some justifiable reasons for dumping his newlywed bride, and attempting to light a spark between the groom and this new Miranda girl, but it was hard to find something resembling chemistry and excitement in that part of the story, and it’s even harder to care for Eddie’s plight because he’s being duplicitous with his new wife, and the woman he supposedly cares about. Because of these failures, the audience is supposed to take most plot twists for granted because the writers want them to happen in the story, rather than make us feel it in our hearts and brains. It's too hard to root for a guy who is acting this way, especially a fortysomething with gray hair who should know better.

Worst of all, The Heartbreak Kid feels like a 90-minute movie stretched out to 2 hours for no good reason. The Farrellys take much too long with every aspect of the movie from the original courtship between Lila and Eddie to all of the troubles that pop up on the honeymoon to the rambling developing love between Miranda and Eddie, which isn’t very compelling. Carlos Mencia shows up in a meaningless role that could have been one good funny cameo, instead of several scenes that are hit and miss, while Jerry Stiller kind of feels out of place and a bit forced as the foulmouthed, wild man father.

The audience gets some very funny shocking bits, but they are few and far between. For most of the film, you feel like everyone is kind of going through the motions trying to find what would be shocking, and completely miscalculating what would be sweet. Stick around through the credits for a couple additional scenes, but these just ruin the good last scene which would have left the audience walking out of the theater with a better laugh.

Screenshot :

THE HEARTBREAK KID Photo

Trailer :

Overview :

Directors: Bobby Farrelly and Peter Farrelly
Writers : Scot Armstrong and Leslie Dixon
Release Date: 5 October 2007 (USA)
Genre: Comedy / Romance
Cast