>>REVIEW
THE BREAK-UP
STARRING Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn
DIRECTED BY Peyton Reed
Opens Friday, June 2
Check listings
The build-up to Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn’s summer romantic comedy, The Break-Up, seemed like a ploy. When Aniston and Vaughn appeared on the cover of tabloids, canoodling on-set in Chicago, it seemed that the former Mrs. Brad Pitt was pulling a move from her ex’s playbook – turn the paparazzi machine into a publicity one. After the "are-they-or-aren’t-they a couple" antics that led up to the steamy but disappointing camp action film, Mr. And Mrs. Smith, it seemed like The Break-Up might go the way of that dud – make for some good fodder in the gossip rags while doing little to light up the screen. As it turns out, the question of whether Aniston and Vaughn are an actual item has little bearing on The Break-Up which stands on its own irreverent, smart legs and achieves rare status as an intelligently amusing romantic comedy.
Where most of the recent misfires of the genre have failed – how many times does an animal have to get flushed down a toilet before movie executives realize that enough is enough – The Break-Up succeeds. Focusing on one of the more sobering parts of any relationship, the film rightly opens with a montage featuring the honeymoon period of its main characters. After motor-mouth Gary (Vaughn), a colourful tour guide picks up Brooke (Aniston) at a Cubs game, the two are shown through a series of polaroids – over the opening credits – partying with friends, sharing intimate moments and goofing off. They look happy. They look like a couple that had a romance befitting of, well, a nice romantic comedy.
But once the credits fade the ugly side of the relationship surfaces. Gary –who spends much of his free time watching SportsCenter and playing video games proves to be the kind of sweet but mindless guy who’s getting nothing right. After Gary fails to give her any support at a family dinner – he kicks back on the couch after she cooks and cleans – she explodes. In one of those classic Men are from Mars Women are from Venus moments, she tells Gary its over.
What ensues after that is a kind of War of the Roses battle in which, attempting to make their former partner jealous (and perhaps insane), both members of the couple refuse to vacate the posh Chicago condo they bought together. Gary takes over the living room, while Brooke reigns in the bedroom.
Aside from the fact that The Break-Up is genuinely funny and features a wonderful supporting cast including Jason Bateman, Jon Favreau and Judy Davis as Aniston’s riotous scene-stealing boss (think the non-cartoon version of Edna E. Mode from The Incredibles), it also pushes its humour in a believable way. The punchlines don’t come at the price of something else, which makes the film that much more endearing.
By the final reel, The Break-Up proves it’s not just a vehicle for jokes, but an actual story about interesting characters who happen to make us laugh along the way. What a novel concept. |
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