The Heartbreak Kid (1972)
Okay, it's a comedy. And humor is idiosyncratic. But so much of this movie swings around the supposed (sarcastic?) appeal of the lead male, TV actor Charles Grodin, who is a definitive dweeb, it's hard to really get into it. And hard to laugh at. Because if you don't get the joke, it just comes off as dumb.
Maybe there are people who identify specifically with these types, back around 1970, who can also feel how funny and warm it might be. The lead females are contrasting types, of course, the Nordic Cybil Shepard and the Jewish Jeannie Berlin, but both are beautiful and fun and charming in the way a movie needs them to be (Shepard is actually a little dull). It's not such a contrast or such a game, after all, and we are stuck watching Grodin, with a little lame Dustin Hoffman in him, bounce between the two women. Not only is he a lame actor, his character is a jerk, too.
What's most baffling is that the writer is Neil Simon, and though he's had some bombs, he's clever and funny regardless. Something went wrong, and the best guess is Elaine May, who is famous for the notorious "Isthar" that also has a wacky, not so funny sense of humor (and stars the real Dustin Hoffman). But her Mikey and Nicky isn't as bad, and she has worked for years with the great Mike Nichols.
Anyway, take it where you can. It's poor sledding all the way, badly filmed, interminably banal, and dated to boot. Good luck!
Okay, it's a comedy. And humor is idiosyncratic. But so much of this movie swings around the supposed (sarcastic?) appeal of the lead male, TV actor Charles Grodin, who is a definitive dweeb, it's hard to really get into it. And hard to laugh at. Because if you don't get the joke, it just comes off as dumb.
Maybe there are people who identify specifically with these types, back around 1970, who can also feel how funny and warm it might be. The lead females are contrasting types, of course, the Nordic Cybil Shepard and the Jewish Jeannie Berlin, but both are beautiful and fun and charming in the way a movie needs them to be (Shepard is actually a little dull). It's not such a contrast or such a game, after all, and we are stuck watching Grodin, with a little lame Dustin Hoffman in him, bounce between the two women. Not only is he a lame actor, his character is a jerk, too.
What's most baffling is that the writer is Neil Simon, and though he's had some bombs, he's clever and funny regardless. Something went wrong, and the best guess is Elaine May, who is famous for the notorious "Isthar" that also has a wacky, not so funny sense of humor (and stars the real Dustin Hoffman). But her Mikey and Nicky isn't as bad, and she has worked for years with the great Mike Nichols.
Anyway, take it where you can. It's poor sledding all the way, badly filmed, interminably banal, and dated to boot. Good luck!