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Heartbreaking

Though not in the way the directors intended
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By Steffen Silvis
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
November 14th, 2007 issue

COURTESY PHOTO
A bad vintage. Malin Akerman and Ben Stiller in a film not worth stomping.
The Heartbreak Kid

Directed by the Farrelly Brothers
With Ben Stiller, Michelle Monaghan, Jerry Stiller, Malin Akerman, Carlos Mencia

It must have sounded so promising: Take an old script by Neil Simon and invite the Farrelly Brothers (i.e. Dumb and Dumber) to add bodily fluids to it. How could it miss? And yet, happily, it has. The box-office returns for this epic gag were disappointing Stateside, which, were one given to suffering bouts of optimism, could signal an exhaustion with frat-rat flicks.
The success of Knocked Up and Superbad will quickly put a damper on that hope. Still, if it crimps the careers of both the infantile Brothers F. and their dull leading man, Ben Stiller, this moronic film will not have been in vain.
The Heartbreak Kid that hit screens in 1972 was a fine comedy that had some dark undertones and salient social criticism, as was required by the times. Directed by Elaine May (who had just survived the studios butchering her excellent film A New Leaf), the original Heartbreak Kid had a crack cast of ’70s greats like Charles Grodin, Audra Lindley, Jeannie Berlin, Eddie Albert, Cybill Shepherd and Doris Roberts.
The basic outline of that film and the Farrelly’s imbecilic update is roughly the same: a newly wedded groom on his honeymoon quickly discovers that he’s married a woman he doesn’t like, and then suddenly falls in love with a woman who seems perfect.
In May’s film, the man, Lenny Cantrow (Grodin), falls for the statuesque WASP blonde Kelly Corcoran (Shepherd). Lenny being Jewish, this is a match that comes with some lingering prejudices, especially from Kelly’s wealthy father (Albert in his best role). This is where most of the comedy in that film lies.
The Farrelly’s film is judenfrei. They’ve no need for class frictions and complicated psychologies, because they’re more interested in cartoons than human characters. In their Heartbreak Kid, Lenny becomes Eddie (Stiller), a sporting goods dealer who weds a certifiable whack-job, Lila (Malin Akerman), but then falls for a college coach named Miranda (Michelle Monaghan).
In between his marriage and meeting Miranda, we are treated to the contents of Lila’s nose (she has a deviated septum, which allows for all manner of material to come cascading forth), complicated sex positions performed on noisy box springs (complete with unprintable taunts from Lila), a Halloween bag of farts and urine and a cavalcade of Mexican stereotypes.
Of the Mexicans we have a porn-addicted resort owner named Uncle Tito; sub-Tijuana Brass strolling, sombrero-ed musicians whose specialty is, of course, “La Cucaratcha;” and a peek at what is billed as traditional Mexican folk dancing, which seems to consist of a woman in peasant garb offering herself to a stud donkey in extenso (this pack animal with the package will finally satisfy Lila). And so it goes for two long, dreary hours.
Stiller is, as always, strangely mired between  smugness and self-loathing--the latter earned. Akerman cannot seem to be anything other than a plumber’s idea of Cameron Diaz (whose hair was famously gelled in the Farrelly’s Something About Mary). The saddest aspect of this version is seeing Jerry Stiller, who must live with the knowledge that he’s the father of a less-talented son, adrift in the bilge.
Other than hiring souls to stand in front of the box office to ring bells and yell “unclean,” there is little else to be done with this leprotic dud. Avoid.
Still, there are other film options. For one, the 3rd Annual Prague Festival of Short Films will be taking over Světozor Nov. 15–18. Short films from around the globe are featured in competition, with various showcases of work from selected countries, including Finland (with shorts by Aki Kaurismaki) and South Korea.
Next week, the 10th Annual French Film Festival will be taking place both at the French Institute and at Lucerna. This is almost solely a treat for French speakers, but there are some interesting films on the schedule. The festival runs Nov. 22–28.
Further afield, live and high definition global broadcasts from the Metropolitan Opera in New York are coming to Kino Aero in Prague. Now in its second year, the Met’s broadcasts have proved to be wildly successful. The series begins Dec. 15, and tickets are now on sale at Aero and Světozor. Look for a longer article on the broadcasts in The Prague Post in coming weeks.
        

Steffen Silvis can be reached at ssilvis@praguepost.com


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