Breaking up is easy to do if you try hard enough.
Just make a clean break and be done with it. Gary (Vince Vaughn) and Brooke
(Jennifer Aniston), the sparring couple in The
Break-Up, can’t seem to take that
logical step. Instead we see two emotional basket cases causing themselves
unnecessary grief by trying to tear each other down. The Break-Up is more sophisticated
than reviews have indicated. The warfare is completely grounded in reality,
never veering off into ridiculous caricature, and it boasts a surprisingly
detailed script for this genre. The breadth and depth of its multicharacter
story is amazing, but nothing detracts from the potency of the two stars.
The intensity of the bickering creates a glorious negative chemistry. Romance was a staple of screwball comedies of the
1930s, but The Awful Truth (1937) stands as the classic breakup movie of its time. Cary
Grant and Irene Dunne are the warring spouses who are bent on undermining
each other’s remarriage plans. More importantly, custody of the dog
is a major issue. Keeping the pets can more than make up for any other
losses. Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment (1966) features a different kind of animal. David Warner
goes bonkers after his wife (Vanessa Redgrave) divorces him, and he shows
up at her wedding dressed as a gorilla. Morgan is one of the best British comedies of the
’60s. Albert Brooks keeps it real, more or less, in his
best movie, Modern Romance (1981). His routine is to announce his breakup plans to his
girlfriend (Kathryn Harrold) in a restaurant. Only Brooks could find common
ground between their relationship and the Vietnam War. She takes it in
stride, because this is his normal behavior, but he spends the rest of the
movie regretting his decision. A restaurant, however, was not a safe
location for the breakup in The Heartbreak Kid
(1972). Charles Grodin wrongly assumes that
Jeannie Berlin won’t overreact in a public place when he dumps her on
their honeymoon. Elaine May’s deceptively dark classic actually makes
his despicable behavior understandable. The Farrelly brothers are working
on a remake. Dirty Love (2005) comes
close to living up to its awful reputation. Jenny McCarthy catches her
boyfriend with another woman and fails in her numerous attempts to make him
jealous. You’ll thank me for not describing the rude and crude humor.
Let’s just say that McCarthy is one of the most fearless actresses in
Hollywood, and Dirty Love proves that some movie breakups are more painful than the
real thing.
This article appears in Jun 15-21, 2006.
