The Break-up

The Break-up (2006)
Director: Peyton Reed

Was this supposed to be a comedy? I couldn’t tell. It had some funny moments in it I suppose, but mostly it was just uncomfortable; like being stuck in a room while two of your friends are having a heated argument. The movie starts out with building character and trying to get you to like the two leads (Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston). That isn’t hard. They are both very likable characters. The problem then occurs with the rest of the movie after they break-up. The rest of the movie consists of the two of them doing things to hurt each other and trying to make each other feel bad. I don’t want to see that. That doesn’t make me smile; that isn’t funny. That’s cruel.

It could be funny. Comedy is basically tragedy seen from a different perspective, so I think they were on the right track with this movie; they just forgot to give us the other perspective. I realize this coule be a very realistic portrayal of a relationship; in fact I have heard these exact same arguments between people before. Kudos to the writers for getting that right. And I don’t mind sad stories, angry stories or stories that show the world how it really is. In fact, I usually prefer those stories. This film does that, but it does it by accident. You can’t say “Plan 9 from Outer Space” is truly a great comedy because it wasn’t meant to be a comedy, and in the same way you can’t say that “The Break-up” is a great drama because it wasn’t meant to be one.

The funniest moments come from John Favreau and Vince Vaughn together. They are funny and anytime they are on screen together you can’t help but laugh. The two of them hit all the right notes, but its not enough to save the film.

Maybe, just maybe if the ending had been different, it could have been a better comedy. But the film is what it is. Not a bad drama, but not a great comedy.

My rating: 3 out of 5