The Heartbreak Kid (2007)

Directed by: Peter Farrelly, Bobby Farrelly | 116 minutes | drama, comedy, romance | Actors: Ben Stiller, Michelle Monaghan, Jerry Stiller, Malin Akerman, Carlos Mencia, Rob Corddry, Stephanie Courtney, Ali Hillis, Kathy Lamkin, Nicol Paone, Joel Bryant

It’s been a long wait, but finally Ben Stiller has a role in a movie from the directors that gave him his star status. The film in question at the time is called ‘There’s Something About Mary’ and the directors are of course the Farrelly brothers, whose names will forever be inextricably linked to the infamous hair gel scene with Cameron Diaz. The film-making brothers were especially successful with their hit film “Mary”. Everyone started to imitate their adolescent but catchy style of comedy, and they were expected to raise the bar every time by coming up with increasingly risqué situations. As a result, the element of surprise of “Mary” was gone, and they themselves also got tired of it for a while. Now, however, they’re back with an old-fashioned sex comedy that will hopefully amaze and please the viewer as before. This is partially happening.

‘The Heartbreak Kid’ has been given the American “R” rating, which basically means that it is aimed purely at an adult audience. This could indicate violence, but in the case of the Farrelly brothers, it obviously means that there is a lot of nudity and sex – or sexual humor – in the film. Newcomer Malin Akerman in particular shows a lot of himself in ‘The Heartbreak Kid’. Seemingly without any sense of shame, we see her quite explicitly engaged in the most diverse sexual positions, which all turn out to be a bit too adventurous for Ben Stiller’s character Eddie. Eddie was under the assumption that he had met a sweet, quiet housewife, and now it turns out that he has snared a hyperactive, and not too bright, nymphomaniac. That is a bit disappointing, although whole tribes might want to trade places with him. Eddie, however, has much more in common with the fun, fresh and fruity Miranda (Monaghan), whom he meets on his honeymoon. Both women don’t know about each other’s existence and Eddie tries to keep it that way as he courts Miranda. Difficult situation. It’s a premise that’s been used in many movies and so quite predictable. Story-wise, the film is not as surprising as the Farrelly brothers might have hoped. This applies to the sex scenes and the amount of nudity in the film. Furthermore, it is a simple, rippling film, which has some charm and dry humor to offer, especially in the first half. In that section, for example, there are many scenes with Ben Stiller and his own father Jerry Stiller (known to the general public as George Costanza’s father from ‘Seinfeld’) which creates several hilarious situations. One is a scene with father and son in Eddie’s survival store, where Lila (Akerman) also happens to be present. Eddie now sees her for the second time after accidentally coming into possession of her panties – with David Bowie’s face on them. These panties appear to be Eddie’s father in the store with him. And of course just when Eddie wants to pull this out of his father’s hands, Lila comes running.

From the moment Eddie goes on his honeymoon, things get a bit more extreme and bombastic. This certainly produces some nice scenes, but at a certain point the cake is really finished and the stale story starts to play tricks on the film. Stiller himself sometimes operates too much on autopilot. Although he is still funny, the bizarre situations and his reactions to them often come across as perfunctory. Fortunately, Michelle Monaghan offers some rescue. There’s nothing wrong with Akerman’s portrayal, but it soon becomes clear what’s going on with her character and she’s just waiting for the next over-the-top situation she ends up in. Monaghan offers a pleasant contrast to this with her down-to-earth yet spirited portrayal of Miranda. No matter which movie Monaghan appears in – ‘Kiss Kiss Bang Bang’, ‘North Country’, ‘Mission: Impossible 3’ – she always manages to liven things up and give the film an extra boost. It is largely thanks to this spontaneous, cheerful actress that the film ultimately remains enjoyable for quite some time. A film that is not a high-flyer or a second “Mary”. A film where there can be no talk of lightning striking the same spot a second time because of the long-awaited reunion between the Farrelly brothers and Ben Stiller. Unfortunately it doesn’t go that way. What ‘The Heartbreak Kid’ is, is a reasonably acceptable, but despite the new look it is still a bit old-fashioned screwball comedy, which is just kept afloat by the interesting collection of actors.