Comic actor Ben Stiller has appeared in some hilarious films (MEET THE PARENTS, THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY), but this isn't one of them. In fact it is easily the worst film that I can recall having ever seen him in and one of the worst comedies that I have seen for quite a long time (and that is no mean achievement).

Ben plays his usual everyman character, but this time one that is afraid of the commitment of marriage. When a really hot blonde walks into his life and then threatens to walk back out again, he marries her only to find that she is perhaps the worst woman in the world he could have married. On his honeymoon, however, he meets the woman he was supposed to be with for the rest of his life.

A set up that is crammed full of comic possibilities you might think, but THE HEARTBREAK KID wastes all of them. His wife (played by extremely attractive Malin Akerman) is kooky and possibly even annoying, but not to the point where anyone would be so desperate to get rid of her whilst the other woman (the appealing Monaghan) is not so irresistible as to make being with her worth everything that Stiller's character goes through. The minor characters are supposed to be amusingly screwy, but are more annoying then the wife is supposed to be. Even Ben Stiller's bemused and finally frustrated schtick seems forced, tired and desperate.

The film is directed by the Farrelly brothers who worked with Stiller on THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY and also brought us DUMB AND DUMBER, KINGPIN and STUCK ON YOU, all of which are comic masterpieces compared to this. There is less of their trademark gross-out vulgarity, but a complete absence of their comedic sensibilities.

It is a very rare event when a film makes me think seriously about getting up and walking out halfway through it. This film came closer than any other in ten years. There's two hours of my life that I am never getting back.

Save yourself some heartbreak and avoid.

Learn more about this author, Darren Humphries.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

---

Add your voice

Know something about Movie reviews: The Heartbreak Kid?
We want to hear your view. Write now!