The Heartbreak Kid

Realizing that he'd become overexposed, Ben Stiller wisely took a brief leave of absence from multiplex screens. Unfortunately, he chose to return in this mediocre Farrelly Brothers reworking of a 1972 comedy scripted by Neil Simon. As Eddie Cantrow, the unlucky-in-love nebbish who unwittingly marries a nutcase (Malin Akerman) and then falls for the girl of his dreams (Michelle Monaghan) while on his honeymoon, Stiller rarely deviates from his well-established screen persona. His specialty remains the comedy of embarrassment, and there's nothing subtle about it: the Farrelly Brothers, you may recall, previously had their way with Ben in There's Something About Mary, which transmuted bad-taste humor into box-office gold. Ben's two female costars almost prop up the picture with their fine performances, but the clever premise is ultimately buried beneath an avalanche of the filmmakers' typically gross gags, fired off at the customary rapid-fire pace. Not a necessary purchase. [Note: Available in either widescreen or full screen versions, DVD extras include audio commentary by filmmakers Bobby and Peter Farrelly, a 17-minute “The Farrelly Brothers in the French Tradition” making-of featurette, six deleted scenes (8 min.), “The Egg Toss” crew segment (8 min.), a “Ben & Jerry” featurette on the son/father costar Stillers (5 min.), a “Heartbreak Halloween” segment on the cast party (4 min.), a four-minute gag reel, and trailers. Bottom line: a decent extras package for a disappointing comedy.] (E. Hulse)[Blu-ray Review—Jan. 6, 2009—DreamWorks, 115 min., R, $29.99—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 2007's The Heartbreak Kid sports a nice transfer and a 5.1 Dolby TrueHD soundtrack. Blu-ray extras are identical to the previous DVD release, including audio commentary by filmmakers Bobby and Peter Farrelly, the 17-minute “making-of” featurette “The Farrelly Brothers in the French Tradition,” six deleted scenes (8 min.), “The Egg Toss” crew segment (8 min.), a “Ben & Jerry” featurette on the son/father costar Stillers (5 min.), a “Heartbreak Halloween” cast party segment (4 min.), a four-minute gag reel, and trailers. Bottom line: although it looks better in Blu, this is still only a so-so comedy.]