Friday, June 02, 2006
The Breakup
So. The Breakup is a wonderful couples movie. It is probably a lousy date movie, for reasons that become painfully obvious during the course of the film. However, all couples in long term relationships should watch this movie. And not just because I want Vince Vaughan and the crew he rolls with to keep making movies. Although that is, if you ask me a very legitimate reason.
No, I will list a few of my personal reasons for finding the movie so darned good.
1) The Old 97's • The Old 97's are a quasi-rockabilly, Eagles-esque, alt country, Rawk Band. For those of you out there asking why that's a selling point, let me put it to you this way: imagine all the things you hate about this kind of music, only make it good. The Old 97's are just awesome. And the songs picked for the movie are pitch perfect. Go. Listen. You'll be glad.
2) Neither Gary (Vaughan) nor Brooke (Aniston) are completely blameless in the script. I don't think it gives anything away to say that neither character is without blame. This isn't clearly cut, it's a muddle. You know, the way relationships really are. She means one thing, he hears another, they go separate ways and one of them does something. The offending party leaves the room, and the offended retaliates. Neither side expects what the other does, nor do they understand it at all. It's great.
3) Jon Favreau, Jason Bateman, Joey Lauren Adams, and Peter "You'll Shoot Your Eye Out" Billingsley.
4) A script that doesn't insult the audience. Seriously. This is a well written movie, with a well balanced script. Yes, there are funny lines, it is a romantic comedy. But there are also a lot of subtle structural elements that make sense upon reflection. It's a character piece, and the plot serves to illuminate the audience about the characters as it also frames moments when the characters have epiphanies about themselves. It's a pleasant change. This is a group of people that I trust to consistently produce good work. They're on a tear now like the original cast of SNL and the SCTV boys were in the 80's. I'm hooked.
In all, highly recommended. It's not likely to cause any intra-couple fights, but it might cause a few people to soften up a bit more towards each other.
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