FanUnity B(uzz)log

Sometimes we’ll complain because a movie’s ending is too Hollywood. That isn’t a problem with “The Break-Up”, which is a comedy for the first part featuring two likeable characters. Then it turns into an awkward, uncomfortable film that follows the fumbling along of the two leads as their relationship fizzles out. The first part is good. The second is painful, and not in a good way.

Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston play a couple living together. She’s always on the move, working, cooking, cleaning and just wanting his attention. He’s the kind of guy who likes to kick back and relax after a hard days work, whether it is watching baseball or playing his PlayStation 2. These lifestyle differences come to a head after they have their families over for dinner and she wants them to do dishes together while he prefers to kick back and watch the Cubs. In a fight the escalates from being about the moment to about their entire relationship, Aniston’s character calls it quits. Secretly hoping he realizes what he’s done wrong, she listens as he storms off to the bar. Rather than come crawling back, he digs up a trench and the war is on.

A “War Of The Roses”-lite rivalry ensues. They own their Chicago condo together, and neither wants to leave, so they co-habitate hostily until such time as the condo is sold. She brings dates home, hoping to make him jealous. He lures them into video game sessions and gives them tips on how to score with her (two apple martinis, but not a third or she gets sloppy and you’re just a babysitter, he tells one guy with no shot anyway). She brings a hunk home, so he calls his friends and a bunch of strippers over for a party. All of this is pretty funny.

But then the movie gets into the phase where they make awkward attempts to get back together, each one poorly timing their move and misfiring. During this final stretch of the movie, it feels like being in the middle of someone else’s emotional mess. I honestly almost got up and left a few times because it was uncomfortable and boring. I was invested enough in the characters to stay, but nothing funny was happening anymore. Unfortunately or fortunately for Vince Vaughn, depending on how you look at it, he’s so damn funny that I only want to watch him be funny anymore.

Vaughn and Aniston are both very good, and “The Break-Up” is an interesting experiment of a movie. The film I can most closely relate it to would be “Chasing Amy” (Joey Lauren Adams is in this too, but that’s not why). Like “Amy”, “Break-Up” is a movie about a doomed relationship and ends in a similar fashion. “Chasing Amy” makes you feel it deeper because it is a drama with some funny scenes, whereas “The Break-Up” is a comedy that goes all dramatic on you in a sort of unpleasant way. I ultimately saw this film because it was recommended to me by people who enjoyed the comedy piece and noted that Vaughn’s character plays my trademark PS2 games (Grand Theft Auto, Madden Football and Fight Night) in various scenes in the film. I did get a kick out of that. Still, I won’t be recommending this to anyone else, unless they are looking for an unfulfilling downer.

2/5 Stars.