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Heartbreak Kid (The)
R1 - America - DreamWorks Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Pat Pilon (16th January 2008). |
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The Film
 A loose remake of the 1972 movie, which is in turn based on a short story, this movie has little to do with either of the previous incarnations. The most distance this movie can have with the other two, the better everything may be for everybody involved. The movie, as a whole, isn't the worst movie ever made, it's just the logical progression in the Farrelly Brothers' career. As with every other movie they've made, the biggest problem with the comedy is that the Farrelly Brothers always go for the easy joke. Case in point: when Eddie and Miranda go visit the small town, they go see a traditional Mexican dancing show. Instead of having something unexpected or absurd, they have a burro trying to mount a lady. This is typical toilet humour and something not conducive to great laughs. The movie also has typically Farrelly crude language and misunderstandings. The movie stars Ben Stiller as Eddie Cantrow, who shrugs off his bachelor life in favour of a whirlwind romance with a quick wedding with Lila (Malin Akerman), which turns out to be a nightmare pretty quickly. While on honeymoon, he meets the real love of his life, in the form of Michelle Monaghan. The movie goes through the motions, following the simple rule of romantic comedies. You don't get any emotional attachment with Eddie. Lila is such a nightmare, it's the easiest thing in the world not to care for her. She's a caricature and nothing else. Kudos to Malin Akerman for making the most of the role. Ditto for Ben Stiller doing what he can, though most of the time he does what he usually does, culimating in his histrionic fit against the mariachi band. Carlos Mencia also has a small role here, playing such a stereotypical latino role he keeps complaining about on his TV show. With all this going for it, the movie doesn't have too much to go on. There are a few laughs, but these only come when the comedy is unexpected, such as the moment with the apple juice, or the ending, which I personally find funny. The last line Ben Stiller utters is the perfect finale for his character. One final note: the movie has been edited from its original version. As far as I can gather, only one scene has been cut. After the end credits, the theatrical version had a flashback scene of Eddie at camp with is bunkmate. That scene has been excised here.
Video
2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. The picture is very nice and quite strong. The palette is very bright and open and the transfer handles it very well. The contrast is quite strong and the transfer never really shows banding or much noise. Colours are very accurate and skin tones have the right appearance without seeming too pink or grey. The transfer also shows no print issues, such as specks or scratches. The digital work reveals no edge enhancment, making this an all around solid transfer. The overall print looks a bit rough, but I'll assume the grainy look was wanted by the directors.
Audio
You can choose an English Dolby Digital 5.1 track or Dolby Digital 2.0 surround tracks in French and Spanish. The movie being what it is, the Dolby 5.1 track handles everything very well, with no trouble at all. Dialogue is clear and distinct. The music never interferes with what's being said. The little other sound effects are also clear and are generally centered, though positions are fairly accurate from time to time. The score uses up all the speakers, as they should. The track isn't as immersive as it probably could be, but the track is light and buoyant. English, French and Spanish subtitles are provided
Extras
Starting things off is an audio commentary by The Farrelly Brothers. These two have a nice time talking about their movie and their enthusiasm is very contagious. You kind of feel bad for not liking their movie as much after listening to this track. They spend a lot of time talking about the gags and how they came up with them, like Rob Corddry's bangs. They mention tons and tons of people, where they come from and what they do on this movie and on the pair's previous movies. The track even has some pretty funny bits, especially when the brothers talk about all the bad language they use. It's a fun track, especially if you enjoy the movie. Next up are four featurettes. The first is 'The Farrelly Bros. in the French Tradition' (16:35). It's basically a rundown of the Farrelly Brothers' career, and has the cast talking about working with the brothers. The brothers talk about why they went into showbiz and how they got their first movie made. Then, Ben Stiller and others talk about working with them and how much fun it is being on set with them. There's some nice information, but I'm sure fans already know this stuff. The second featurette is 'Ben & Jerry' (5:00). It talks about the father and son working together. They talk about their dynamic and talk about how it is working with each other. They both seem to like working together, though some scenes, like the hot tub scene, was a bit weird. The two other featurettes have basically nothing to do with the movie itself. 'Heartbreak Halloween' (3:24) focuses on the costume competition held about halfway through filming, because it was Halloween. The directors and stars talk about how weird and creepy it was seeing Peter Farrelly dressed as Jennifer Beals from 'Flashdance'. After that is 'The Egg Toss' (8:04), which was done to have fun on set and break the ice among the cast and crew. You see what happened here. At the end of some shooting days, they had a competition. The brothers teach you the basics, like how to throw and catch eggs. They also tell you what not do to. This has some nice smile material, but it seems kind of silly to have as an extra. A rather short Gag Reel (4:01) is next. It's got some nice moments in it, but there are a lot of goofing off shots that were probably funnier on the moment. It does provide a few nice laughs, though, and is worth watching. Deleted Scenes are next, and there are six scene to watch, though none of them really add much to the movie. The third and sixth have a couple of nice jokes, but I suppose weren't worthy of inclusion. The scenes are: 'On the Beach' (1:01), with Eddie and Lila talking, 'Fire Dancers' (0:39), pointless, 'Breakfast Order' (0:34), kind of funny, 'Sky Diver' (3:10), which inappropriately has Miranda's ex proposing to her, 'Pillow' (1:16), which is mentioned in the feature commentary and 'Driving with Dad' (0:48), again a bit funny, but probably not worth being in the movie. Lastly, Theatrical Trailer (2:35) is found. The trailer does a very nice job introducing the plot and has some pretty good jokes. Some rather pointless Previews are here: 'Stardust' (2:24), 'Hot Rod' (2:30), 'Carlos Mencia: Season Three Uncensored' (1:38), 'Drillbit Taylor' (2:29) and 'Into the Wild' (2:33), with the two last ones being start-up trailers as well.
Overall
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