The Break-Up

Rated: PG-13 (for sexual content, some nudity and language)
Runtime: 105 minutes
Directed by: Peyton Reed
Written by: Jeremy Garelick, Jay Lavender, story by same guys + Vince Vaughn
Starring: Vince Vaughn, Jennifer Aniston, Jon Favreau, Vincent D’Onofrio, Joey Lauren Adams, Jason Bateman

Being that I’m on Jennifer Aniston’s side after the whole Brangelina fiasco (how do you dump Rachel???) and I think Vince Vaughn is one of the funniest people on the planet, I really wanted The Break Up to be good. Yeah, but you can’t have everything you want.

Gary (Vaughn) and Brooke (Aniston) are on the verge of a monumental separation. Gary’s lethargic tendencies towards helping Brooke around the apartment and Brooke’s somewhat overbearing nature force their opposition and unrealistic expectations in one another to swell to a very unpleasant climax. So they somewhat ambiguously break up. There exists the notion that they do want to get back together, and the rest of the movie generally consists of their playing often mean-spirited mind games to force some sort of reaction or ultimate change in one another.

Vaughn and Aniston do have an obvious chemistry, and play off each other very effectively. He often does his trademarked stream of thought rants, which feel at times unscripted and are always hilarious. She does her accustomed tightrope portrayal of humorous charm and raw emotion. Both have a harsh sarcasm that is equal parts amusing and painful.

The flick is marketed as a lighthearted romantic comedy, but the overall tone is surprisingly dark. Their fights are genuinely uncomfortable to watch, as they eagerly look for ways to reopen wounds and sandpaper salt into them. I somewhat commend them for their realistic portrayal of a domestic fight, but save for a few jokes it really ain’t pretty. That’s the biggest surprise (and letdown) of the movie – it’s really not very funny.

Haphazardly directed by Peyton Reed (Bring It On), scenes connect in a very disjointed fashion, leaving the movie feeling inept and devoid of focus. I predict numerous deleted scenes on the DVD. Vaughn serves as producer here and shares a story credit, though I think his original intention was probably much better than what the screenwriters conveyed. And the supporting characters are too abundant with too little development. Vincent D’Onofrio, who I generally love (he rules on Law and Order: Criminal Intent), is reduced to something completely unnecessary as Gary’s brother. Jason Bateman and Joey Lauren Adams are given so little they might as well have been excised from the picture. And Jon Favreau, who gets the most attention in the supporting cast and is very funny here, seems to have scenes with Vaughn just so the audience can get yet again more moments with “the guys from Swingers and Made.” None of these faults are those of the actors (read: really bad script).

After being delayed from release to the general public for some time, production on The Break Up was reactivated in order to shoot a new ending. I don’t know what the original endnote was, but this one is awful. It’s so bad in fact, that the mass reaction verbalized at my screening was a unanimous “what?!” coupled by groans and sighs, at which point I turned to my wife and asked “what just happened?” It was then that I realized the look of dread on her face at the movie’s possible slamming by critics. We then spent the entire drive home debating whether or not we were being too hard on it.

I probably am being too critical. But it’s hard not to be frustrated by a movie that had such potential to be utterly hilarious and genuinely touching. It had a great cast and a premise that could have allowed for something great had it not been squandered as it was. It just doesn’t make sense, and when all is said and done there doesn’t feel like much of a reason for the movie existing, even if you get the point they’re trying to make. I do like that this is an honest portrayal of what goes on in a relationship, and it’s nice to see a movie that borders on stereotypical try to challenge conventions. But it just doesn’t work, and the flick’s way too negative for the genre. Bottom line: the whole thing’s ambiguous and awkward. It’ll make lots of money, until people realize what it is they’re paying for.

My Rating: C