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    The Break-Up

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    adamwatchesmovies@

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    “The Break-Up” feels like two movies of completely different genres mashed together. It doesn’t always work but the second half of the movie is very strong and more than makes up for the shortcomings.

    Vince Vaughn plays Gary and Jennifer Aniston play Brooke. The two have been dating for two years and although it’s been mostly happy times, a dinner with the two families that goes wrong is the proverbial straw that breaks the camel’s back. Brooke, feeling (rightfully so) that her boyfriend is taking her for granted breaks up with him. Here is where the troubles begin: the two live in an incredibly expensive and beautiful condo that neither can actually afford. Unless they can mend their relationship they are going to have to sell the place. Through a series of bad decisions and incidents of petty revenge the two become increasingly aggressive towards each other and break each other’s hearts over and over. It will take more than a bouquet of roses and a break from each other to fix the relationship, but can either of them forgive the childish behavior they’ve had to put each other through?

    This film sounds like a drama, with the protagonists getting their feelings hurt and the petty revenge thing getting way out of control… but for the first portion of the film, “The Break-Up” wants to be a comedy. It doesn’t work. There are some good laughs when Brooke goes on a phoney date to make her ex jealous and seeing her failed attempts to push his buttons are genuinely funny. In the same fashion Gary’s interactions with some characters, like a 12-year-old video game player make for some big laughs. Despite a few victorious moments, this was doomed from the start. I don’t know whose idea it was to make a comedy about this subject. Break-ups are painful or at the very least awkward and unpleasant, not whimsical and gut-busting. Often the film needs to insert cartoonish, over-the-top characters to inject some comedy into the film, just for the laughs to die out completely when some of the realistic issues and problems crop up in the next scene. Real emotions clash with the comedic material in what feel like profoundly misguided efforts to leave the audience feeling happy and cheerful instead of depressed.

    Once you banish the comedic moments from the film, it turns into a genuinely thoughtful and emotional movie about two people that tried really hard to have a relationship but somewhere along the lines, it just didn’t happen. Your heart breaks when you see either Gary or Brooke’s heart get torn to pieces and the two leads do a terrific job convincing you that their feelings got hurt. You never really see the two of them in a working relationship except for a montage at the beginning but the performances make it feel like there is a significant amount of history between the two. In a way, there’s a lot of tension in the movie because you’re constantly praying for the leads to stop with the stupid little vendettas they’ve got going and just make up, even though you know that there’s very little at this point that could bring the two back together. While you’ll never go through a break-up that gets as messy as this one, it will remind you of the human pain that comes when someone you genuinely loved turns against you. This is where the movie shines. You completely forget the groan-inducing characters, the lame setups and you get sucked into the story.

    It’s a shame that the movie is being sold as a Vince Vaughn, Jennifer Anniston comedy because the dramatic side is what the movie’s got going for it. This is not a movie you want to watch with your boyfriend/girlfriend. It reminds you of the pain you’ve felt in your own relationships and not in an “I’ve survived! ” kind of way. You might realize how poorly your significant other is treating you. “The Break-Up” might make the two of you split for real. There are probably a lot of people that will pop this movie in their Dvd player and be crushed. Instead of enjoying the film for the bits that work, they’ll be angry at the misleading advertisements. Despite the flaws in the first half, “The Break-up” is worth seeing. It’s sad, insightful and sometimes it’s even funny, the performances are great and it packs a real emotional punch. (Fullscreen “His Side” DVD, July 9, 2013)

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    adamwatchesmovies@  4.8.2016 age: 26-35 2,867 reviews

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