The Break-Up: Movie & DVD Review (2006)

(Originally published 2006)

The new comedy about falling out of love, "The Break-Up," is concerned with opposites coming together and falling apart.

Nobody should come expecting much of the former, which is hastily glossed over during the opening credits when Brooke (Jennifer Aniston) and Gary (Vince Vaughn) meet cute at a Chicago Cubs baseball game. He hustles her with hot dogs, she's smitten beyond reason, and so is born the potential for a new summer trend at the ballpark. Ladies, either beware or enjoy.

Moments later, while the credits roll, the couple is shown canoodling and kissing in a photo slideshow meant to underscore their love, which is so sweet, you'd know it was doomed even without the assistance of the film's title.

Preventing the film from being socked with too much saccharine is the falling apart part, which becomes substantial the moment their relationship implodes.

Brooke, an art gallery assistant, is home putting together the finishing touches for a dinner party when in strolls Gary, a bearish tour bus guide who would rather crack open a beer and watch the game than help Brooke with the incidentals. It occurs to her that this is always how they have lived their lives together--she's a doer, he's a taker. By the end of the night, they have charged through one mother of a fight, their two-year relationship is dead, though not as neatly as either would like.

Each own one half of their pricey condominium. With neither party willing to move out, the movie becomes a showdown between them, with the possibility for a second chance pinned to whether they sell their condo. After all, if they do, they've essentially sold whatever is left of their relationship.

From director Peyton Reed ("Bring it On"), "The Break-Up" is being billed as an "anti-romantic comedy," which suggests that it plans to skewer anything warm and fuzzy while slaying the typical romantic comedy cliches.

While neither is true for the movie--it's too cute and too commercial to really get down and dirty when it comes to how ugly relationships can get when the ax is thrown down ("Husband and Wives," "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" and "The War of the Roses" did all of this much better)--this light, derivative take does generate more heat than some might expect. The escalation of the first fight, in particular, is impressively well-choreographed, with Aniston and Vaughn believably tearing each other down.

Cutting the drama with comedy is the film's fine supporting cast (Jon Favreau, Vincent D'Onofrio, Cole Hauser, Joey Lauren Adams, Jason Bateman, a scene-stealing John Michael Higgins and Judy Davis), all of whom are so good, they join Aniston and Vaughn in creating this summer's real mission impossible--a movie that might open well even in Namibia.

Grade: B