Commitment
Ben Stiller plays Eddie, a forty-year old man who works at a sports store. Eddie has trouble committing, which cost him a chance at happiness with a girlfriend of five years. Now she’s getting married and Eddie isn’t getting any younger, or happier. A chance encounter with Malin Akerman’s character, Lila, occurs one day when she is mugged and the mugger runs into Eddie, who tries to stop him. They meet and within six weeks, Eddie pops the question… only to regret it.
After marrying Lila, Eddie discovers she’s not at all the woman he thought she was. Their honeymoon in Mexico gives us many examples of how raunchy, annoying, stupid, and difficult Lila is, all to the surprise and disdain of Eddie who thought he was marrying a much different woman. Of the course of the nearly two hour film, Eddie falls in love with another woman at the resort, Miranda (Michelle’s character) but she too is taken. Perhaps predictably, the two eventually meet again after both split with their spouses.
For my tastes, The Heartbreak Kid was a little too raunchy; this is not your typical romantic comedy, but there is certainly a market for this sub-genre.
Heartbreak On Blu-ray?
The Blu-ray release of The Heartbreak Kid is very impressive when it comes to the presentation. I was expecting a great looking film, but this release exceeded my expectations and provided an especially crisp and vibrant picture. The 5.1 Dolby TrueHD sound was no slouch either and while it’s a primarily dialogue driven film, it sounded great.
As for extra features, The Heartbreak Kid won’t break your heart. There are several extras, let’s take a closer look:
-Audio Commentary – An audio commentary track by the Farrelly brothers, the directors, is included.
-The Farrelly Brothers In the French Tradition – A sixteen and a half minute feature in SD where the Farrelly’s talk about their lives, careers, and also about this film.
-Ben & Jerry – A five minute SD look at the two Stillers, father and son Jerry and Ben respectively. Interviews of the two on set along with behind the scenes footage is included.
-Heartbreak Halloween – A three and a half minute SD extra that includes footage of the cast and crews Halloween party held during filming.
-The Egg Toss – An eight minute feature in SD in which Bob Farrelly talks about the egg toss activity the cast and crew did together one day to increase team morale.
-Gag Reel – A four minute collection in SD of various goofs caught on film.
-Deleted Scenes – Six delete scenes totaling about seven and a half minutes, in SD.
The Heartbreak Kid isn’t everyone’s romantic comedy, but for those that are fans of the raunchier sub-genre, you can do worse. This Blu-ray release includes a solid presentation and several extras, although none are in HD.
