Breaking Up Is Hard to View
Aniston-Vaughn Comedy Lacks Chemistry & Heart

One of the trickier aspects of making a romantic comedy is knowing when to go for laughs and when to go for the “aaaaw” factor. The newest movie in that booby-trapped genre is The Break-Up and although it delivers some genuine chuckles, it is almost totally devoid of anything that would elicit empathy from the viewer.

The Break-Up stars real life celebrity couple Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn, though you’d never know it by their demeanor on screen. I’m not sure what the opposite of chemistry is, but that is exactly what this couple has in The Break-Up.

“Hmm, I wonder why she gets so bent out of shape every time we watch Lara Croft: Tomb Raider?” Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston star in The Break-Up.

As the film opens we see pretty perky Brooke Meyers (Aniston) verbally brow-beaten into accepting a first date from obnoxious Gary Grobowski (Vaughn) after he spies her at a Cubs game at Wrigley Field. During the opening credits we see a photomontage of happier days for Brooke and Gary, establishing the fact that they had many more dates and eventually bought a condo together.

After a fairly disastrous dinner party with members of both their families, Brooke decides she has had enough of Gary’s self-centered ways. In a ploy to get him to “shape up or ship out,” she tells him that the relationship is over. Never one to delve into shades of gray, Gary takes her seriously and steps up his boorish behavior as he sets up camp on the living room couch.

Before either realized what has happened, they have sabotaged any chance at reconciliation.

The Break-Up has some fine moments of comedy, especially when Gary’s best friend Johnny O (Jon Favreau) and Brooke’s brother Richard (A Mighty Wind’s John Michael Wiggins) are on screen. The scenes at Brooke’s art gallery workplace are filled with stereotypes (the gay male receptionist, the ice queen gallery owner) but are salvaged by inspired performances by Justin Long and Judy Davis. Ditto for the scenes in which Gary interacts with his brothers Dennis and Lupus (Vincent D’Onofrio and Cole Hauser) at their business, Three Brothers Tours of Chicago.

Those comedic moments, however, are negated by some truly nasty scenes featuring the heavyweight fights of Gary and Brooke. With a definite nod to The War of the Roses, The Break-Up throws the viewer into the ring for round after round of end-of-the-relationship sparring. Like watching your parents fight, these scenes give you that wonderful kicked-in-the-stomach feeling.

The previews of the movie are directed toward the on-screen/off-screen pairing of Vaughn and Aniston who apparently hooked up not long after her beau Brad Pitt ditched her in favor of Angelina Jolie. Brad and Angelina exploited their extracurricular exploits and made movie magic in Mr. & Mrs. Smith. The same cannot be said for Vince and Jen as viewers of The Break-Up will be mystified as to why Brooke went on more than one or two dates with the amusing yet self-serving Gary.

The best chemistry shown in the movie is between Vaughn and longtime co-conspirator Favreau. The two first burst onto the screen a decade ago with the fantastic indie film Swingers (if you haven’t seen it, rent it today). During the bar scenes in The Break-Up the two actors actually revive a few moments of Swingers greatness as they discuss women, hit men, the Sox & Cubs, and Gary’s innate selfishness. If the fights between Gary and Brooke had the same sense of reality and improvisation, The Break-Up would have been a better than average movie.

The Break-Up explores some interesting themes—ones that would have been better served by a tighter, more focused film. Can people really change, even when love depends on it? Can harsh words spoken in the heat of battle ever be effectively taken back? Do the truly selfish ever see themselves the way their friends and loved ones do?

The film does get points for avoiding a stereotypical happy ending where the combatants realize their mistakes and rush into each other’s arms. Reality is messier than that…and so is The Break-Up.

The Break-Up is rated PG-13 for sexual content, some nudity and language. It is currently playing at Regal Cinemas in Boone.