Movie Review: THE BREAK UP Author: Paul Coffland Saturday, June 3, 2005 U.S. Release Date: June 2, 2006 Distributor: Universal Director: Peyton Reed Writing Credits: Jeremy Garelick & Jay Lavender Cast: Jennifer Aniston, Vince Vaughn, Joey Lauren Adams, Jason Bateman, Cole Hauser Genre: Romantic Comedy MPAA Rating: PG-13 OFFICIAL WEBSITE: www.thebreakupmovie.net TRAILERS: www.apple.com./trailers The “plaid-shorts with nicely tucked shirts” crowd may not like this film as Gary (Vince Vaughn) verbally shreds one of its members who has come to a baseball game with Brooke (Jennifer Aniston) in the opening scene at Wrigley Field. Score one for the paunchy, unshaven team as Gary emerges victorious and gets the girl. The director, Peyton Reed, makes a great decision with the following scene; instead of subjecting viewers to a series of romantic interactions between the two characters which would have been akin to watching a Friends episode, he shows a montage of snap-shots that were as sincere as any scrapbook. Vaughn and Aniston look like real people as the collection of photos are as blurry and poorly taken as pictures found in any American household. As the last photo was shown, it felt as though the relationship had moved well past the honeymoon period and eventually relationship imperfections would appear. They do. Gary begins to show a distaste for the requirements placed on American males in relationships: reading your partner’s mind, keeping the house clean, entertaining guests, sacrificing quality time with the television. And like any red-blooded man, he rebels against his oppressor. While this sounds great in theory, it doesn’t keep him warm at night when Brooke puts him out on the couch. Initially the two refuse to move on which prompts them both to attempt hurting each other- Gary with his boorish behavior and Brooke with her failed dates with other men more handsome and successful than Gary- but neither are successful. Time away from each other does both of them well as they finally gain some perspective. The Break-Up will be a huge disappointment for anyone wanting the same type of humor found in The Wedding Crashers or Old School. It is less crude and shocking, but it is funny just the same. The exchanges between Gary and John (Jon Favreau) provide an illustration of this difference. Instead of a constant barrage of burps, insults, and jokes about female parts, the dialogue between the two guys is genuine as Gary runs to John’s bar every time there is discord at home. At times, John can be insightful and gives Gary advice that leads to real personal growth. My advice: go see the movie. PAUL’S GRADE: B Paul Coffland is the co-founder and a writer/reviewer for ON-FILM.NET. Send feedback to pcoffland@houston.rr.com.