Customer Rating: 
Summary: Review 1
Comment: This is my first time doing this. I'm not sure if Amazon wants a review on just the condition of the purchase or the actual film. My guess is just a review on the item. DVD was in brand new condition as stated. No problems with it.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: A dazzling screen epic of biblical proportion... NOT!
Comment: There's a reason God created high definition television - So that we all can watch Jennifer Anniston walk around sans pants, as she does in "The Breakup". Forget about buying the ordinary dvd. Here's my advice: Go out and splurge. [...].
This is all the entertainment you'll ever need in life, trust me. It's a Jennifer Anniston flick where she portrays Jennifer Anniston in yet another "She's really a good girl..." type of movie. Who could ever want anything else?
It's not that "The Breakup" is unwatchable. It's not. It's cute, in an uninspired sort of way. But I got the impression that in their haste to make a quick buck, the producers of this grade B flick decided to appeal to the younger crowd by presenting characters that the unwashed public could relate to.
Hence, the Vince Vaughn character. He's a clown who spends his free time playing video games and drinking Bud Light at the local sports bar. Hey, it's art imitating life.
And the Anniston character... All I can say is: What a dope!
As for the acting itself, Vaughn seems to fit the bill, although I can't imagine how he personally could ever relate to his character. Anniston is another story. After nearly 20 years on the scene, Anniston's range seems to be nonexistent. Not that she really needs one... After all, Doris Day made a good living in romantic comedies. But at least Day's career was punctuated with better actors, like James Stewart, and better producers, like Alfred Hitchcock.
Unlike her more flamboyant competitor, Jolie of tabloid fame, Anniston doesn't play the mother of an ancient warrior or a modern day femme fatale a la Tomb Raider. A few more flicks like "The Breakup" and Anniston's career will likely careen over like a lead balloon and land with a crash back into the bizarre world of TV sitcoms.
What "The Breakup" is not: A dazzling screen epic of biblical proportion. What it is: A fairly predictable B grade movie with decent direction, good editing, and a storyline that's slightly implausible.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The Unromantic Movie
Comment: Some years back, a disturbing film called Fatal Attraction caused a big sensation by showing the absolute worst-case scenario of marital infidelity. Despite the near tragic climax of the movie, the viewer fails to see that the infidel learned his lesson and, to further obfuscate things, his adultery is overshadowed and practically pardoned by her mental instability. No deep introspection or navel gazing epiphany, just a close call and back to the way things were before. The Break-Up does a similar public service of sorts in demonstrating how bad things can go when people end their problematic relationship and similarly avoids addressing the root causes that created the mess. By the time The Break-Up ends, both partners have grown some, but not enough to make me believe they'll not make the same mistakes again. They have picked up the pieces and tidied up but you get the feeling that when it comes time to build again, it'll be the same old house of cards.
After a whirlwind dating period turns to co-habitation, the shine fades and things quickly come to a head, thanks to the selfish antics of male stereotype Gary (Vaughn) and his predictable inability to do little more than meet his girlfriend half-way and Jennifer Aniston's Brooke, who makes the fatal error of trying to change someone who is firmly set in his ways, yet another cliché. But, that leads me to the bigger flaw of The Break-Up; using formulaic Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus images, the movie relishes demonstrating how ugly the end of a relationship can be and how fast love can turn to hate, but it never addresses the problem on a deeper level and gets to the heart of the matter. People aren't clichés and relationships aren't supposed to devolve into little more than glorified roommates who sleep together nor should they feel compelled to "save" what is already terminal. Yet, the movie is chock full of couples sleepwalking through the sad dance of relationship boredom and misses the opportunity to flush out why they willfully allowed themselves to become the soulless zombies they are. All of us have known and/or been in situations where it is clear that things aren't right and yet few ever seem to have the courage, strength, or sense of determination and foresight necessary to pull the plug. Instead, we soldier on despite the profound differences, boredom, frustration, lack of sex, existential angst, and, in some cases, a genuine dislike of each other, purely for some misguided sense of commitment, financial responsibilities, kids, or, the most popular reason; fear of being unattached and alone. And people perpetuate these mistakes in one relationship after another like lab rats that just can't figure out that the cheese comes with an electric shock. The Break-Up, whether intentionally or not, exposes the inherent fraud of lifeless, dispassionate relationships. It reminds us in one uncomfortable moment after another, what happens when the façade is torn away. This movie is the antithesis of romantic and beneath the light humor and the two-dimensional roles, it serves up a cautionary warning for all of those desperate and fearful people who would rather spend nights next to Mr. or Ms. Wrong than rough it alone while keeping up the search. When you chose safety over risk, satisfaction over passion, or banality over excitement and romance you inevitably end with The Break-Up. Happy Valentine's Day.
Customer Rating:
Summary: OK choice if nothing else is available
Comment: "The Break-Up" succeeds as a comedy because there are a few laughs. Not a lot of them, mind you, but they're there. The comedy came from the improvisational skill of the cast, and not from the predictable, flabby script.
He's a five-star jerk, and she's slightly domineering. Their relationship shouldn't have survived as long as it did, but it lasted long enough for them to buy a condo together. Of course, there has to be a plot device like this, or else one of them would simply pack up and move on, and there wouldn't be a movie. They have to stay in the same condo until it sells, and wouldn't you know it, comedy and drama ensue. Vaughn and Aniston turn in great performances; the supporting cast steals the show. But, all this talent is in service of a pedestrian, predictable script that drags down the entire film. On the bright side, this movie photographs Chicago in an original way, without relying on the hackneyed establishing shots we all know so well.
Ultimately, the cons outweigh the pros of this movie, but it's still not a bad choice. It won't make you wish you had your hour and 45 minutes back after you watch it, but it's likely you won't remember it a week later either.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Is there a negative star rating?
Comment: If there were, I'd give this movie a negative five star. It's horrible. It's not the acting; it's the plot, the script, all the yelling and awkward moments in front of friends, and the ending? I won't give that away, but it not only made no sense, it looked the beginning of another movie, not the ending to this one. Horrible waste of two hours.
|
Return to Store Front