“There and back again” has been done before by short, pointy-eared, hairy-footed hobbitses (gollum, gollum). It works as a storyline because, at least in the case of “The Hobbit,” the audience gets a happy ending. But as a character’s arc, it’s not so hot.
Such is the problem with “The Heartbreak Kid,” the newest bit of raunchy comedy from the Farrelly brothers, the duo behind “There’s Something About Mary.”
The film, a remake of a 1972 original, centers around Ben Stiller’s character Eddie, who, at 40 years old, starts out the story as a still-unmarried man.
However, after a short courtship with Lila (Malin Akerman) he marries her, drives down to Mexico for their honeymoon, and finds out she’s a bit nuts. Then – oh the drama! – he meets another woman, Miranda (Michelle Monoghan) whom he actually loves, and spends the rest of the movie trying to woo her while ditching Lila.
While the movie’s jokes run on grotesque shock value, and they only deliver a few small chuckles, the problem is not with the comedy, but with the character. Eddie spends the whole movie working toward winning Miranda, and when, at the end, he finally gets the girl, his triumph is only a repeat of him trying to be with Miranda while cheating on another woman. A character is supposed to change because of – and learn from – experience, but by the time the credits roll, Eddie is still the immature middle-aged man who became a cheater because he wasn’t ready for marriage in the first place.
Stiller redeems his take on Eddie by at least portraying him as unintentional liar and cheater. He doesn’t have the best moral support either; his personal cheerleaders, played by Jerry Stiller and Rob Corddry are the ones advising him to marry premature.
Still, one never gets the feeling that Lila is the wife from hell; she just comes across a little over reactive or hyper-zealous, nothing a good heart-to-heart between husband and wife couldn’t solve. But that doesn’t happen in this movie.
Beware of the long stretches where nothing funny takes place in “The Heartbreak Kid.”
Moviegoers should be advised to see one of the better movies out right now, such as “The Kingdom” or “Eastern Promises.” However, if you want mindless entertainment, or if watching the movie is only a pretext to get in a dark room with a date, you could do worse than “The Heartbreak Kid.”
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