Movie #34

The Break-Up




I liked this movie quite a bit. It’s a standard Hollywood romantic comedy, but there are a few slight twists which were enough to convince me that this movie was worth watching. For example:
The setting is Chicago instead of L.A. – nice touch! They tried a little too hard to insert authentic Chicago moments in the movie (including apparently asking both Vince Vaughn and Vincent D’Onofrio to pack on some extra pounds)…. But it works, and there are some really funny lines as a result, like when Vince Vaughn refers to his friends as “Polacks with no hope for the future.”
The dialogue is believable, and sadistic/painful, and even though it’s a bit too glib to be believable, I’m glad that the director and editors thought the audience could handle some harsh and atypical dialogue (although judging from the crowd around me, they couldn’t, actually).
The mise-en-scene and set design was really good – they used both the city and the sets well.
The major one: The movie managed to totally piss off the plebes sitting around me. I hope I’m not giving too much away here… but… the characters in this film, actually… they break up. I thought that might be clear from the title of the movie, but the people around me were angry enough to exclaim “this is bullshit!” as the movie was progressing. No, not because they didn’t like the plot in general, or the acting… but because they actually came to a movie called The Break-Up and REALLY expected the main characters to reunite in a happy Hollywood Ending. Can I just vent for a second here? What is that about? I guess I knew deep down that the vast majority of Americans just want to go to the theater to sit down and be spoon-fed the same damn movie over and over again. It makes me want to light firecrackers under their butts, or tie them down and force them to watch several Takashi Miike films in succession.
Anyway, in summary, if Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn don’t make you puke, this is worth watching, at least at the budget theater.