The Break-Up: ザ・ブレイクアップ: シネマコンプレックス[シネコン]: CineMa Complex[CineCom] @ シネコム

/ 2006-06-19 This film begins simply - Vince Vaughn is typecast as the self-confident aggressive loudmouth Gary Grobowski, who we meet attending a Cubs game with his friend Johnny O (Jon Favreau). His brash pickup attempt intrigues Brooke Meyers (Jennifer Aniston), and apparently sufficient chemistry develops between them that they not only decide to live together but actually jointly purchase the condo that they share. Of course, since this movie is about THE BREAK-UP, it never shows any of the good times which convinced Gary and Brooke that their relationship was worthwhile and thus the moviegoer has no understanding of what they might do to save it as it progressively deteriorates. The talented cast members who play various supporting roles as friends, co-workers, employers and family includes Judy Davis, Vincent D'Onofrio, Ann-Margaret, Cole Hauser, Joey Lauren Adams, Justin Long and John Michael Higgins does succeed in somewhat humanizing the stars a well as alleviating somewhat the depressing nature of the story by providing many of the truly comic moments that the film offers.

If this movie has any message, it seems to be that you should be sure that your relationship with your current partner will last before you decide that you're ready to jointly buy a condo. The cast perform their roles well; however, the script is somewhere between uninteresting and depressing and the direction and editing manage to showcase its weaknesses rather than emphasize its strengths. Vaughn both was a co-author and co-producer of this film, and his multiple roles apparently did not allow enough objectivity for him to realize that his depiction of Gary was so edgy and egotistical that it was difficult not only for the moviegoer to understand why Brooke was attracted to him but more importantly to have any investment in whether he could successfully address Brooke's increasing alienation as they proceed toward what appears an increasingly unavoidable BREAK-UP.

If you are a fan of either of the stars and are interested in a "slice of life" film or if you have recently been involved in a destructive relationship, then you may well find this film more enjoyable than I did. And there is enough comedy to keep the story from becoming depressing; I believe that the best adjective to describe it is simply uninteresting. It is not a bad film, I just cannot find any reason to strongly recommend it. The last twenty minutes of the film do very belatedly allow Brooke and Gary to finally honestly address their relationship and the flaws in their own characters that have led to their current impasse. Unfortunately, this succeeds only to highligt the lost potential of the remainder of the story. At least the ending is consistent with the story to that point rather than the all too frequent Hollywood totally improbable "they all lived happily ever after" conclusion. Instead, the moviegoers are only left to ponder the same intriguing questions as Brooke and Gary. First, are there circumstances which are able to motivate an adult sufficiently so that he/she will be able to substantially change their basic personality traits? Second, does the passage of time and the perspective that it provides allow deep emotional wounds to eventually become completely healed? Unfortunately, so much time has already been spent developing the obvious reasons why the relationship is in trouble and setting up the periodic humorous interludes that there is no time remaining to explore these truly interesting questions once they are finally raised.

Tucker Andersen