The Heartbreak Kid (2007)

* *

Once upon a time in the nineties the Farrelly brothers towered together over the comedy realm after directing and producing Me, Myself, and Irene, There's Something About Mary, and Kingpin, after starting it all with Dumb and Dumber, a top ten comedy film of all-time. With comedy legends Jim Carrey and Ben Stiller at their disposal, the Farrelly's seemed destined to create countless classics. Instead, they started off the new century with a series of duds including Osmosis Jones, Shallow Hal, Stuck on You, and Fever Pitch. After using the likes of Jack Black and Jimmy Fallon, the Farrelly's returned to Stiller as their leading man with a script eerily similar in plot and raunchiness to Mary. Unfortunately, the revert back to Stiller doesn't make a difference as The Heartbreak Kid is not nearly as funny and twice as generic, continuing the brothers' cold streak. The plot involves Eddie Cantrow, played by Stiller, and his attempt to finally settle down with one woman at age forty. Malin Akerman plays the Cameron Diaz role and is just as unamusing if not more, but tries harder. Michelle Monaghan is cute but again, not funny, as a girl who catches Stiller's eye, and Carlos Mencia's performance will make you wonder who he knows in the industry how this guy is making a living as a comedian. The only noteworthy performance is by Jerry Stiller as Eddie's father. It's not entirely clear whether the lines are truly comical, or if it's just funny to see an old man say intensely profane things in front of his real-life and on-screen son. Now this isn't to say that there aren't any funny parts. Two or three scenes are laugh-out-loud funny and a few lines are particularly memorable, but the ten minutes of hilarity aren't worth the admission price or your time. Save the Heartbreak Kid for DVD or cable, or rent it from that friend we all have that thought Fever Pitch was hilarious.

Good For: people who like bad movies, obnoxious movie-quoting people, fans of either Stiller, guys who like attractive girls naked

Bad For: critical movie watchers

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The Surfer: * *