The Break-Up (2 June 2006)
directed by Peyton Reed
starring Vince Vaughn, Jennifer Aniston, Joey Lauren Adams, Cole Hauser, John Favreau, Jason Bateman, Judy Davis, Justin Long, Ivan Sergei, John Michael Higgins, Ann-Margret, Vernon Vaughn, Vincent D'Onofrio, Jane Alderman, Jacqueline Williams, Peter Billingsley
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MPAA rating: Studio: Mosaic Media Group, Universal Pictures Script: Jeremy Garelick, Jay Lavender Music: Jon Brion Running time: 105 minutes Tags: art galleries; bars; baseball; Chicago; Comedy; poker; realtors; Romance Tactical strength: [5/10]
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for sexual content, some nudity and language
In case you don't know, Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston (at least up to the filming of The Break-Up) really were dating. Rumors abound that Vaughn did propose to Aniston, but Aniston told People magazine, "I'm not engaged and I don't have a ring and I haven't been proposed to" [1]. Oh well, so much for Hollywood love, and maybe Vaughn and Aniston's lackluster performance in The Break-Up shows why they don't have an engagement.
Vaughn plays Gary Grobowski, a Chicago city tour guide. Gary and his two brothers, Lupus (Cole Hauser) and Dennis (Vincent D'Onofrio), have big plans for the tour business. Now they run a bus tour, but want to add boat and helicopter tours as well. Aniston plays Brooke Meyers, a salesperson at a high-end art gallery. In the evenings, Gary plays video games to wind down from his work. He also tries to get Brooke to agree to putting a pool table in the dining room. The final straw comes on an evening when the couple has a dinner party planned. Gary brings home three lemons; Brooke had asked for twelve. Gary also refuses to leave his video game to help with the dinner preparations. We can clearly see why these two should split up, but we never get a sense of why they got together in the first place. Gary loves sports and poker. Brooke loves art and interior design.
So where's the humor in this romantic comedy? Well, neither Gary nor Brooke wants to leave their condominium, and the battle for supremacy begins. They divide up the condo into territories: Brooke gets the bedroom, Gary the living room, with the kitchen as common territory. The mental battles start, and for some reason, both Gary and Brooke decide to try making the other jealous. Brooke starts dating a series of good looking guys. Gary has a strip poker party with hookers. Finally, both parties agree to sell the condo and go their separate ways, and we all breathe a sigh of relief. These over-the-top behaviors should make us laugh, but really only make us shake our heads at these lame attempts at situation comedy. I do like that the ending doesn't follow the typical romantic comedy formula, but the unconventional ending alone doesn't save the rest of the film.
So, I have one lingering question. Why does Vincent D'Onofrio have to play neurotic characters? D'Onofrio plays Gary's older brother with the level-headed business sense that keeps the tour business running and growing. For some reason, the script gives him some form of obsessive-compulsive disorder, and we see D'Onofrio's character neurotically cleaning his ears while having a serious conversation with Gary. D'Onofrio's character would have worked just fine -- actually better -- as a normal, unafflicted person.
The utter lack of romantic chemistry between Vaughn and Aniston dooms The Break-Up, since the audience really doesn't care if the couple gets back together or not, and the few meager laughs don't really merit spending any time or money at the theater on this film. (Maybe the outtakes on the DVD will provide the missing laughs.)
[1] "Jennifer Aniston: 'I'm not Engaged!'," People magazine online (16 August 2006). (http://people.aol.com/people/article/0,26334,1227701,00.html.)
