Stiller brings back his comedy in ‘Heartbreak’

By Justin Thurmond, contributing writer
Posted on October 8, 2007

This past weekend brought the return of the Ben Stiller comedy. “The Heartbreak Kid” delivers the big laughs that one would expect from a new Stiller flick.

Eddie Cantrow (played by Ben Stiller, “Meet the Parents”) has spent his whole life without ever taking the plunge into marriage.  After seeing all his friends and ex-girlfriends get married, he finally goes for it with a random girl he meets just a couple weeks before.  That turns out to be the biggest mistake he has ever made and that’s where the movie starts to get going.

Stiller once again plays his signature character in “The Heartbreak Kid,” just as in most of his movies.  That’s not really a problem because every other character is filled with crazy traits.  Doc, Eddie’s father is actually played by Stiller’s real-life father Jerry Stiller, (“King of Queens”).  He plays a very loud and dirty mouthed character to counter Stiller’s straight humor.

Also in the movie are Eddie’s “scared of his wife” best friend Mac (played by Rob Corddry, “The Daily Show”), crazy Mexican Uncle Tito (played by Carlos Mencia, “Mind of Mencia”), insane new wife Lila (played by Malin Akerman, “Entourage”) and the girl he falls in love with on his honeymoon, Miranda (played by Michelle Monaghan, “MI:3”).  Together this cast of characters makes for a pretty good two-hour laugh fest.

The cast isn’t the only good thing about the movie.  The Farrelly brothers (“Dumb & Dumber,” “There’s Something About Mary”) directed it and they continue to be comedic geniuses behind the camera.  They deliver with their raunchy and shocking style humor just like always.  This movie also  hooks them up with funnyman Stiller again, creating memorable scenes full of classic one-liners.  

Although it’s funny all the way through, it’s a tad bit predictable.  You can see how the particular scenes are going to end up.  Typical story: guy meets the perfect girl for him, but it happens to be the day after he gets married to another woman.  The story has been done before. It is very basic and doesn’t take the viewers anywhere they haven’t already been a million times before.  It does still somehow manage to make those scenes laugh out loud funny even if you know how it’s going to end.

It might not be the best comedy of the year, but it is stil worth watching.  Fans of both Stiller and the Farrelly brothers will not be let down.