The Break-Up
Screenplay written by: Jeremy Garelick and Jay Lavender
Actors: Vince Vaughn, Jennifer Aniston, Joey Lauren Adams, Cole
Hauser
Directed by: Peyton Reed (Also,
”
Down With Love
”
)
Rated: PG-13 for sexual content, some nudity and language
The Break-Up
Screenplay written by: Jeremy Garelick and Jay Lavender
Actors: Vince Vaughn, Jennifer Aniston, Joey Lauren Adams, Cole Hauser
Directed by: Peyton Reed (Also, “Down With Love”)
Rated: PG-13 for sexual content, some nudity and language
When hosting an important evening to bring together the couples’ families over dinner is unsupported by Gary (Vince Vaughn), it becomes the catalyst in bringing Brooke (Jennifer Aniston) to the conclusion that they are just too different as people to continue with their relationship. With neither of them willing to change or move out of the trendy city condo they share, and despite the advice of friends, they coexist in a state of both humorous and heart-wrenching mental warfare to try to get the other to admit their shortcomings. Through all the games and one-upmanship, they begin to wonder if they are actually fighting to keep their relationship alive, despite their fundamental differences that may or may not endure over time.
He Said:
This was no Rock Hudson/Doris Day romantic comedy. It turned out to be much more realistic. At first, there was laughter in the theater at the ingenious and humorous ways this couple (Aniston and Vaughn) pursued separate but common-space lives while trying to get uncomfortably under the other’s skin. But when heart-crushing and human truths surfaced between Brooke and Gary, the laughter in the theater fell silent as though each viewer personally recognized that particular inner-change or feelings inside from their own experience. As unlikely as it may seem from action-adventure-loving-me, a romantic comedy that generates that much empathy says a lot about the quality of the script and the acting, if only for those moments. I expected to be entertained by a superficial “chick-flick” that I would have to endure based upon the film’s promotional trailers, but this humorous film offered more.
On the R&R Scale (1-10)
7 for script current and realistic.
7 for direction nothing over-done.
7 for acting Vaughn and Aniston showed what they’ve got.
6 for plot domestic warfare with dimension.
7 for entertainment value for a PG-13 Romantic Comedy.
6.8 overall
She Said:
While not destined to be a classic, “The Break-Up” offered many entertaining “contradictory attributes of unjust justice and loving vindictiveness.” (John Morley, Voltaire). To the heart of the matter, the “The Break-Up” made nearly everyone recall their participation in an inner-personal relationship that became unbearably strained at one time or another and caused them to question, “What am I doing this for?” That truth done so well was what made us almost overlook the easy-to-be-had stereotypical male/female behaviors and mindsets that we still couldn’t help laughing at. Jennifer Aniston made me more empathetic than I’ve experienced her before and she was as good in her heartfelt role as sensitive, giving Brooke as Vince Vaughn was in his role as video-game-loving Gary Grobowski, the man’s-man – being all he thinks that means. While it’s a simple premise, “The Break-Up” was more than I expected in that it wasn’t conventional, too formulaic or oversimplified.
On the R&R Scale (1-10)
8 for script simply humorous, complexly human.
7 for direction Peyton Reed shaped the contemporary texture and tone well.
8 for acting Aniston and Vaughn clicked realistically.
7 for plot surprisingly more touching than a simple romantic-comedy.
8 for entertainment value for a romantic-comedy.
7.6 overall
