Considering that reportedly half of the marriages in America end in divorce, and figuring in all of the failed relationships during and after middle school, high school and college, you'd think that we as a people would be old pros when it comes to the art of the breakup.
Alas, people let those nasty things known as emotions get in the way and the result is often lots of yelling, arguing, heartbreak and more before the two parties end up going their separate ways. And if there's anything as uncomfortable as going through the process, it's witnessing firsthand others doing the same.
That is, except in the movies. Sure, there are the ugly dramas steeped in realism (not to mention their TV cousins the soap operas), but I'm not sure why anyone wants to put themselves through that. The flipside of the cinematic coin, however, shows such failed marriages and romances in comedic form. Whether it's the "War of the Roses" or the action-laden antics of "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," Hollywood sometimes gets it right in generating the laughs out of the romantic misery of others.
The appropriately titled "The Break-Up" wants to be one of those films. In it, Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston play two Chicagoans who meet, fall in love, buy a condo together, and then realize they're as incompatible as cats and dogs. Or Felix and Oscar, if you want to go with the obvious "Odd Couple" analogy.
Once the love is gone and the gloves are off, the two set out to make the other's life miserable enough that they'll opt to move out and sell their half of the mortgage. From that point on, the laughs will flow forth, mixed with just enough sentimentality and hope that this film doesn't come off like a charred black comedy.
But that very approach -- by director Peyton Reed who works from a script by Jeremy Garelick & Jay Lavender -- is part of the film's downfall. Yes, you can try to have your cinematic cake and eat it too, but the movie gods don't always allow that to occur. The result is that the film feels anemic in terms of humorous venom and the instinct to go for the comedy jugular.
That said, it certainly doesn't waste time in getting down to business. Following an unremarkable and too brief to be believable "first meeting" scene (where Vaughn's tour guide operator sweeps Aniston's art gallery worker off her feet at a baseball game by essentially forcing a hot dog on her and badmouthing her date), Reed proceeds to show us the couple's entire courting through a series of montage-based photos during the opening credits roll.
That tactic is both a blessing and curse. It's the former in that the scenario is quickly set up and gotten out of the way in some otherwise obligatory screen time. But it's the latter in regards to shortchanging any sort of engagement with the viewer (notwithstanding the "rumors" of the real life couple's relationship) in terms of liking or at least caring about the main characters in some fashion.
As a result, when things and the two leads start to turn nasty -- and they do that right after Reed's credit exits the screen -- we don't really care. Now, in a traditional black comedy, that's not a big issue since the fun is in watching the involved parties stooping to new lows to undermine the others. But since this film still wants to have that soft and fuzzy inner core, that leaves it in a rather dead, romantic comedy-based no man's land.
It certainly doesn't help that the screenwriters don't come up with anything terribly inventive or clever for the ensuing war of wills, or, for that matter, all of the many supporting characters who repeatedly pop in and out of the story. Longtime Vaughn running mate Jon Favreau gets an amusing bit late in the film when he seems desirous of pulling a Sopranos on his friend's new competition, but Joey Lauren Adams is pretty much left high and dry playing his opposite gender counterpart.
Vaughn gets off some funny riffs with his trademark rat-a-tat delivery of rambling, nervous dialogue, but the likes of Vincent D'Onofrio, Cole Hauser and Jason Bateman share the same fate as Adams. Judy Davis gets a few funny moments as a haute gallery owner, as does Justin Long as her receptionist. But while John Michael Higgins gets some of the bigger laugh material (singing Yes' "Owner of a Lonely Heart" a cappella style right in Vaughn's face), his character feels like nothing more than a plot construct who's called upon for a few amusing scenes and then vanishes forever.
Which also holds true for the overall comedy for long stretches at a time. It's then that the film starts to feel like the real thing of watching a couple argue, yell and scream at each other, pointing out the other's faults and their own disappointments. Just like in real life, it's not a pretty thing to watch when there's no comedy -- straight or blackened -- to offset the melodrama.
Lacking the high style and polish of his previous two films ("Bring It On" and "Down With Love"), Reed lets this one get away from him. The result is an occasionally funny, but often rambling and disjointed affair that can't decide what sort of relationship it's looking for in a viewer. With a sharper wit, more venom and the ability to make us care about the characters (there are random touches of emotional connectivity, but clearly not enough), this could have been a fun outing.
Toward the end of the film, Aniston's dejected character tells Vaughn's that she doesn't know how they got where they now are (meaning in their relationship). Viewers might have the same feeling about the film considering the good intentions initially emanating from this cinematic relationship. "The Break-Up" rates as a 4 out of 10.
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