Review: The Break-up

1040 Views 8 Replies 6 Participants Last post by Dean Roddey, Jan 14, 2007

Dean Roddey

Discussion Starter · Jan 12, 2007

I watched this one last night. It's a romantic comedy with Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston. It's a somewhat non-standard romantic comedy, in that it doesn't follow the standard arc. It starts with the breakup of a romance. And it has a little more drama than some that are really comedies with a romance as the backdrop.

It wasn't the best movie of all time, but I enjoyed it. I always enjoy watching Jennifer Aniston, who is in good form in this one, physically and acting-wise. And she's good with both comedy and drama. Some folks I know don't go for Vince Vaughn's schtick (sp?), but I alway seem to enjoy it. When he's on it's good. It was interesting to see him and Jon Favreau back together (they were the guys in Swingers for those couple folks who might not know.)

The editing, to me, was a little off, and the characters could have been developed a little differently. I think that they just tried to have too many characters for the amount of screen time available maybe.

And it has a little bit of an off-kilter feeling to it that doesn't necessarily feel like it was intentional, but maybe it was. It's hard to tell sometimes whether it came out that way because that's all they had to work with or if they meant to do it. As the jazz folks say, if you make a mistake, do it again right away, and they'll think you meant to do it.

But anyway, overall it was a pretty enjoyable couple hours, and an interesting variation on the romantic comedy that has been done a million times the standard way (though of course it continues to work if done well, otherwise they would have stopped somewhere in the hundreds probably.) I think it does try to present the problems of romance more realistically than most romantic comedies do, with some good screaming matches and fights. And it doesn't tie up all the loose ends, but leaves the possible outcome ambiguous.

Sorry, that was a pretty incoherent review, but it's late and I'm just dashing it off while waiting for some code to build so I can do some more testing...

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aeromorris

· #2 · Jan 12, 2007

My wife and I watched this movie last weekend and it passed the time well. I can't quite say I loved it but I'd give it a 3/5.

Critical plot discussion: Don't peak unless you've seen the movie. (You've been warned!!)
Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show) Spoiler
Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show) First, let me say Jen was looking hot in this movie... Brad Pitt still made a good move with Angelina but Jen definintely didn't let herself go. How 'bout the "Telly Sevales" trim, and the gratuitus butt shot...

The ending left us feeling blaaah. That isn't the way romantic comedies are supposed to end. If I were on a date, that movie may have cost me some action later that night.

I felt the tension in the movie at times exceeded the category of romantic comedy and entered serious drama, resulting in a certain awkwardness. When Jen brings home the guy to look at the sculpture on the wall after Vince had cleaned the house and prepared dinner, I thought that was kinda extreme. He finally realized he needed to make her feel appreciated but it was too late. And then when they met on the sidewalk and went their separate ways...? WTF - Why didn't they grab some coffee and hook back-up?

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Dean Roddey

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jan 12, 2007

Yes, that was a very good shot. To bad we didn't get to see Telly. As to the last point, it's purposefully left ambiguous, which I think is a good thing. Not all movies have to tie up everything.

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ADU

· #4 · Jan 12, 2007

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dean Roddey /forum/post/0

Some folks I know don't go for Vince Vaughn's schtick (sp?), but I alway seem to enjoy it. When he's on it's good. It was interesting to see him and Jon Favreau back together (they were the guys in Swingers for those couple folks who might not know.)

Watch the outtakes of Vaughn and Favreau in the bar scene (also with narration on) before returning the DVD, Dean. The one with the multiple retakes. The original ending material that they didn't use (which is separated into two clips in the extras) is worth a look as well.

Not the greatest film storywise IMHO, but the supporting cast was good, and PQ on the DVD was pretty good for the most part (digital intermediate w/slight sepia tone).

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kevinp8192

· #5 · Jan 12, 2007

I was actually surprised that I liked this one as well. It's funny at times, but I like how it had a bit of dramatic sharpness--some of the fights were uncomfortably harsh. I can imagine real arguments like that, instead of the usual stupid and false arguments that plague most movies. I also think Chicago looks great in it, which is always a plus in my book.

BTW, all of the outtakes are good on this disc. The outtakes of Vaughn's tour guide are very funny. Should have left those scenes full intact.

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rezzy

· #6 · Jan 12, 2007

Quote:
Originally Posted by kevinp8192 /forum/post/0

I was actually surprised that I liked this one as well. It's funny at times, but I like how it had a bit of dramatic sharpness--some of the fights were uncomfortably harsh. I can imagine real arguments like that, instead of the usual stupid and false arguments that plague most movies. I also think Chicago looks great in it, which is always a plus in my book.

I was very uncomfortable watching this; maybe that's what the director intended. Anyways, Jen and Vince reportedly became an item during production of this film, and have since...*gasp*...broke up

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