Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: The Heartbreak Kid (2007)

This is topic The Heartbreak Kid (2007) in forum Film Handlers' Movie Reviews at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Jonathan M. Crist (Member # 413) on 09-30-2007, 01:19 PM:

The two themes which made the 1972 original a quirky hit: (i) the dicotomy between the poor Jewish boy/golden WASP girl and her privileged family and (ii) the callous determination of the Charles Grodin character to get what he believes represents happiness . . . have been jettisoned in favor a Ben Stiller/Farelly Brothers brand of slapstick. It just doesn't work and the result is decidedly unfunny.

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 10-01-2007, 05:40 AM:

That original film was hilarious. What makes these people think they can take a really well-made film and make it better. Just re-release the original like they used to do in the old days! It would have saved Paramount lots of money (and from what Jonathan says, a bit of embarassment.

I was bummed because we were supposed to sneak this on Tuesday and I was looking forward to it because I like the original so much, but Paramount pulled it on us -- it wasn't ready and their campaign was late, blah blah blah. Now I am glad they did.

I guess their publicity people saw the film and realized that sometimes the word-of-mouth that a sneak generates can be a bad thing. [Eek!]

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 10-04-2007, 04:33 PM:

Very not good.

1 out of 5 stars

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 10-04-2007, 06:42 PM:

They deserve the flop this is likely to be. To make a movie that clearly aims for the "Meet the Parents" audience and then toss in enough f-bombs to make it "R" rated is just dumb.

Posted by Matt Fields (Member # 3211) on 10-06-2007, 08:49 AM:

1.5 out of four...few funny moments, but mostly lame. Even with no curse words, it would have been "R" rated: couple of sex scenes.

Posted by Chad Souder (Member # 343) on 10-06-2007, 04:18 PM:

Michelle Monaghan is from a small town (like we have any big ones) about 20 minutes from here. Hopefully she has better luck next time. [thumbsdown]

I still say Ben Stiller should stick to side-kick roles. He just doesn't pull off the leading male for me.

Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 10-07-2007, 10:47 AM:

I was waiting for this movie to end the other day so we could leave, and I saw the scene with the kid at the end after the credits. I know nothing about the movie because other than that part, I haven't seen any of it, so I don't know the context of that scene. Two questions: 1) Was that supposed to be funny? 2) If the answer to #1 is "yes", did anyone find it funny?