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	Movie Review - The Heartbreak Kid (2007)     (What this rating means)       Director: The Farrelly Brothers Starring: Ben Stiller, Michelle Monaghan, and Malin Akerman Rated: R (for strong sexual content, crude humor and language) Length: 115 minutes Genre: Comedy Tagline: Love blows Studio: Dreamworks Website: The Heartbreak Kid Release: October 5, 2007 PLOT Fearful that he will lose his new Cameron Diaz look-alike girlfriend to an overseas research job, Ben Stiller reacts quickly and asks her to marry him. Marriage after six weeks? If you don't expect the ensuing of hijinks and shenanigans then you just haven't ever seen a Stiller comedy, have you? While on their honeymoon, the couple quickly realizes they don't really know each other all that well. Further complications arise when Stiller meets another woman on the beach and begins to fall in love with her. Disappointment ensues. JOHNNY'S TAKE Disappointment. If you don't experience it on a near-daily basis then please tell me your secret to success. There was a time when the Farrelly name was synonymous with laugh-out-loud, pee-in-your-pants, guffaw-down-the-aisles comedy. Then Osmosis Jones happened. The problem is the brothers absolutely stormed out the gate with two of the funniest comedies of all time - Dumb and Dumber and There's Something About Mary - and raised the bar and expectation levels to unenviable heights. Since then they've steered somewhat away from laxative, hair gel, and dead bird jokes and have displayed a gentler, more romantic side. To somewhat mixed results. The Heartbreak Kid was supposed to be a return to form. A re-teaming with Ben Stiller in an R-rated comedy to reclaim a little bit of that Mary magic. Unfortunately for them, Judd Apatow has already jumped their claim, and their efforts look like little more than desperate attempts to yell, "Hey! Look! We can be raunchier than you!" So what do we get? Sight gags and sexual humor that is crude and vulgar for nothing more than shock value's sake. What else is the purpose of showing an erect horse (please forgive me) mounting a woman? Who needs or wants to see that? Certainly not me, and I hope not you. If you find humor in seeing a full-frontal shot of a really hairy woman then you have a stronger stomach (and a weaker sense of decorum) than I, but I guess this would be your style. I, on the other hand, am tired of today's comedies forsaking clever, intelligent writing all in an effort to push the edge further than the previous week's raunch-fest. The Heartbreak Kid does provide some legitimate laugh-out-loud moments and a few trademark Farrelly moments (a woman with a deviated symptom who has a problem with liquids leaking out of her nose, anybody?), but the humor is not as consistent as I was expecting. In addition to being dragged down by its over-the-top gross-out moments, the film often crawls through its attempts at developing some sense of romance and sweetness. The result is a mildly amusing, but ultimately disjointed disappointment. Much like this review, I'm sure. The difference is this review didn't have a $50+ million budget. ODDS & ENDS Ben Stiller was in Flirting with Disaster with Josh Brolin who was in Hollow Man with Kevin Bacon. MAMA'S APPROVAL No way. The language is profane, the nudity and sex are gratuitous, and the vulgarity is cringe-inducing. TRAILER COMPARISON The trailer is NOT a good representation of what to expect. THE GIST Considering the quality of some of the Farrelly's previous comedies, I was quite disappointed in The Heartbreak Kid. Due to its strong reliance on obscenity I can't give this one a recommendation on any level. Your best bet would be to wait for the rental and then be prepared to fast forward.	RETURN TO HOME PAGE Ghouls Eagle Eye Righteous Kill Tropic Thunder Traitor Death Race Star Wars: Clone Wars The Dark Knight Journey to the Center of the Earth Hancock Weekend Results: 1. Beverly Hills Chihuahua($29,300,465) 2. Eagle Eye($17,709,817) 3. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist($11,311,751) 4. Nights in Rodanthe($7,368,259) 5. Appaloosa($5,050,310)

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