“The Heartbreak Kid” is a light comedy starring Ben Stiller with an interesting premise of a desperate bachelor marrying who he thinks is the “perfect woman” for him. This is a Farrelly brothers film, not one of Ben Stiller’s clever, biting comedies he has written but it is still mostly enjoyable as light comedy. The premise is funny, but the execution doesn’t always work. The Farrelly brothers are known for gross site gags in their movies and this is no exception. The relationships between the characters could have been fleshed out more in the script. Stiller as usual does good work helping to elevate the movie from the script. Parts of the movie just don’t work well, are poorly paced or overlong and the script certainly could be funnier. The ending of the movie seemed lacking to me. I liked seeing Jerry Stiller and Rob Corddry in their scenes and the supporting actors overall were solid in their performances.

My take on the movie is that if Ben Stiller had written the script I’d like it more. He has a wit that surpasses the writing of the Farrelly movies which I think is important for classic comedy movies. Smart comedy, in the end, is very funny.

2007. Directed by Peter and Bobby Farrelly. Written by the Farrelly brothers. Starring Ben Stiller, Malin Akerman, Michelle Monaghan, Jerry Stiller, Carlos Mencia and Rob Corddry.

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