So I went to see the "Heartbreak Kid" this weekend. My fiance's penchant for awkward situations bears an uncanny resemblance to most Ben Stiller movies, so we generally try to catch anything he's in.
While Stiller usually plays the bumbling nice guy (like Greg in "Meet the Parents") or bumbling idiot (like Derek in "Zoolander"), you always end up rooting for him. Because underneath his foot-in-mouth persona, you know he's a good guy.
In "Heartbreak Kid," he's not a good guy though. He's kind of a self-centered jerk.
Stiller plays Eddie, a sports store owner who shies away from committment because he always finds something wrong with the women he dates.
After being forced to sit at the kid's table at his ex-fiance's wedding, Eddie realizes he's not getting any younger, and might be too picky when it comes to love. He meets Lila (Malin Akerman), a perky environmental researcher after trying to recover her stolen purse from a mugger.
One thing leads to another, and in six weeks Eddie and Lila are married driving down to Cabo for their dream honeymoon. But between Lila's endless singing, her juice-squirting deviated septum and her violent sexual exploits (it's a Farrelly Brothers movie --- you know, "There's Something About Mary" --- so be prepared for gross outs) Eddie's dream honeymoon turns into a nightmare.
Then he meets, beautiful, fun and wonderfully normal Miranda (Michelle Monaghan), who is on vacation with some relatives. Conveniently leaving out the part about being married, Eddie spends most of his honeymoon falling for Miranda, than with his sun-burned-to-a-crisp wife.
Of course, we all know, because it's Ben Stiller, that he can't live in fantasy world forever, and everything will come crashing down in.
And it does come crashing down. It it probably woudlv'e been OK if the movie had ended at this point. Because as a viewer, I don't care if Eddie gets the girl.
He lied to her. He lied to his wife. And he does it all for self-preservation. The only person Eddie truely cares about is Eddie. OK, Lila wasn't as forthcoming as she could've been. She had a few skeletons in her closet, but shouldn't Eddie have asked a few more questions before he jumped into marrying her? It almost seems out of character that Eddie didn't learn more about Lila before walking down the aisle. I know you're supposed to suspend some reality for a movie, but I don't think you should suspend a character's reality in order to make the movie happen.
With great supporting roles by Jerry Stiller and Rob Corrdry ("The Daily Show"), "Heartbreak Kid" has plenty of good laughs, and disturbing funny moments.
But honestly, it doesn't have much heart.
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