The Break-Up (2006)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Peyton Reed

Writers (WGA):

Jeremy Garelick (screenplay) &
Jay Lavender (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

2 June 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

. . . pick a side.

Plot:

In a bid to keep their luxurious condo from their significant other, a couple's break-up proceeds to get uglier and nastier by the moment.

Plot Keywords:

Break Up | Art | A Cappella | Pool Table | Male Female Relationship

Awards:

2 wins & 5 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sun. July 5	10:00 AM	USA
Sun. July 5	7:00 PM	USA
Fri. July 10	9:00 PM	USA

Cast

Vince Vaughn	...	Gary Grobowski
Jennifer Aniston	...	Brooke Meyers
Joey Lauren Adams	...	Addie
Cole Hauser	...	Lupus Grobowski
Jon Favreau	...	Johnny O
Jason Bateman	...	Riggleman
Judy Davis	...	Marilyn Dean
Justin Long	...	Christopher
Ivan Sergei	...	Carson Wigham
John Michael Higgins	...	Richard Meyers
Ann-Margret	...	Wendy Meyers
Vernon Vaughn	...	Howard Meyers
Vincent D'Onofrio	...	Dennis Grobowski
Elaine Robinson	...	Carol Grobowski
Jane Alderman	...	Mrs. Grobowski

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sexual content, some nudity and language.

Runtime:

USA:105 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

UK:12A | Singapore:PG | Ireland:12A | Germany:6 | Australia:M | Netherlands:MG6 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #42432) | Netherlands:AL | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Brazil:14 | Finland:K-7 | Argentina:Atp | Sweden:Btl | Hungary:14 | Italy:T | Philippines:R-13 | Iceland:L | Portugal:M/12 | Malaysia:U | South Korea:15

Filming Locations:

Buckingham Fountain, Grant Park, Downtown, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

In the opening scene at Wrigley Field, Jon Favreau makes a reference to going to "Wiener Circle" to have hot dogs after the game. Wiener Circle is a hot dog stand famous for the staff yelling and cursing at you when you order. If you do not return the favor, they do not take your order. Generally, though, this only happens late at night on the weekends.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Brooke is on the phone after her dinner-party, she picks up a martini glass full of fruit off of the counter, empties the fruit into the garbage and then places it in the sink. In subsequent views of the counter, the glass reappears and disappears.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Gary: Come on, come on, come on.
Johnny O: All right, here we go.

Movie Connections:

References Old School (2003)

Soundtrack:

26

'Painfully funny'? So painful you'll be crying by the end of it. And not from laughter either.

"This film is meant to be a comedy? What? A comedy?!" I hear you say in shocked disbelief. Aye, this supposedly 'funny' film is described as a comedy/drama/romance. I laugh at this inaccurate description - an extremely misleading lie. It somehow manages to drone on for a whopping 106 minutes. 106 minutes filled without any comedy, certainly no romance, and about a tonne and a half of excess, bad quality drama.

You find yourself feeling unsympathetic towards the characters going through "The Break-Up," having only known them for all of 2 minutes after having a quick glance through the old photo album. The tag line 'pick a side' means nothing, the answer clearly being 'I don't care.' The dialogue is too realistic, filled with mindless small talk and incessant whining in what I can only assume to be an attempt at humour. The singing scene can be described as mildly amusing but in reality, one scene is not enough to save a mind-numbingly boring film from spiralling into oblivion.

It says it all in the title. If you've seen the adverts, you've seen the best parts of the film. Don't bother watching this monotonous, tedious drivel - better have a night in watching a good old ant documentary.