DVD review - The Heartbreak Kid

In 1998, the Farrelly Brothers made quite a name for themselves with the gross-out There's Something About Mary; yet nothing very notable has come from their stable since. Now in an effort to revive their fortunes and emulate that picture, they've signed Ben Stiller again in their latest vehicle, The Heartbreak Kid, which is a no-holds-barred bawdy remake of the 1972 comedy scripted by Neil Simon directed by Elaine May and with Charles Grodin in the lead role.

The new version is beefed up with a fair whack of bad taste and political incorrectness that will have Farrelly fans rolling in the aisles. Eddie (Ben Stiller) is 40, he's had some romantic problems since his fiancée ran out on him five years earlier. So he's pretty touchy about getting hitched until he meets Lila (Malin Akerman) a ditzy blonde environmental research worker. Next thing they are both totally infatuated, marry in haste and dash off to Cabo San Lucas for the honeymoon.

The wheels drop of the romance however when he quickly learns more about his newly beloved. Seems Lila has a few small problems – like a past coke-sniffing addiction leading to a deviated septum, endless boisterous singing, a penchant for wild sex, snoring, and being in serious debt. Plus she has the disconcerting ability to get items stuck up her nostril – not especially encouraging on a honeymoon, even in such an exotic resort.

In a word Eddie is sadly disillusioned; so enter Miranda (Michelle Monaghan) who meets Eddie while little Lila is resting up nursing a bad case of sunburn. Eddie falls madly in love yet again with Miranda, so setting the scene for outrageous farce as the befuddled Eddie bungles around the tourist resort under the suspicious eyes of Miranda's relatives trying to prevent the two girls coming in contact with each other. It allows the Farrellys to become typically outrageous in their way to the final gross snippet hidden among the end credits, which does them not much credit at all. Some may think this is a misogamy caper as Eddie seems unabashed by his short-lived marriages and he's no better at the end of the movie than when it started.

Malin Akerman (The Circle) has a striking resemblance to Cameron Diaz who starred in There's Something About Mary and may be a lower-cost replacement. Yet certainly Akerman plays her part with frenetic energy especially in the bedroom scenes, and does a particularly funny singing routine in the car, in no way letting the picture down. Michelle Monaghan (The Bourne Supremacy) is fine as the other love interest, taking the more sedate role if you could call it that. Ben Stiller (Night at the Museum) does an admirable job of the new husband with a roving eye, aided and abetted by Doc (Jerry Stiller) his rapscallion father, who is ever in the background handing out extremely dubious advice on romantic matters. Jerry Stiller is Ben's real father and might be remembered best for his appearances in Seinfeld.

Bobby and Peter Farrelly have done a competent job with the direction, and if moments recall that Mary flick it's no surprise. In fact, I was even reminded of the more gentle comedy with Bo Derek, 10 from 1979. Cinematography by Matthew F. Leonetti makes good use of the Mexican locations and San Francisco earlier in the picture. Sure many jokes are off-limits; but its mostly done with good humour likely to offend only maiden aunts in today's world. The film's stretched a bit, although a couple of running gags like the mariachi band and the two kids from Hell help to overcome the length.

A number of comedies today are following a trend into bad taste and The Heartbreak Kid is a textbook example, but it has enough laughs and entertainment value to make it worth the price of a rental, if perhaps not a straight-out purchase on DVD.