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List Price: $12.98 | | Label: Universal Studios
Salesrank: 5512
Released: October 17, 2006 |
| Our Price: $4.99 |
| Used Price: $1.74 |
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MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston star in the charming and unpredictable comedy The Break-Up. After two years together, Gary and Brooke's relationship seems to have taken a comical wrong turn on the way to happily ever after. Now the break-up is on, the lines have been drawn, and their honest feelings for each other are coming out. Get ready for an all-out war of the exes in this fun date movie that's hilarious and heartfelt.
Description of The Break-Up (Full Screen Edition):
The combined star power of Vince Vaughn (Wedding Crashers, Swingers) and Jennifer Aniston (Bruce Almighty, The Good Girl) makes The Break-Up a high-profile romantic comedy. Gary (Vaughn) and Brooke (Aniston) find that their brittle relationship may have reached the breaking point--but neither is willing to give up the condo they co-own. As their fighting grows increasingly bitter, neither is sure if they're fighting to get out of the relationship or to save it. The Break-Up is an odd combination of realistic scenes that capture the harsh yet human ways that lovers can hurt each other, and broad comic scenes with a more farcical edge. Both types of scenes are entertaining on their own terms--the movie is never boring--but they don't fully mesh, and as a result it's hard to engage emotionally with either Gary or Brooke. But the sterling supporting cast--including Jon Favreau (Wimbledon), Cole Hauser (The Cave), Joey Lauren Adams (Chasing Amy), John Michael Higgins (A Mighty Wind), Justin Long (Dodgeball), Jason Bateman (Arrested Development), Vincent D'Onofrio (Happy Accidents), and the ever-delirious Judy Davis (Husbands and Wives)--give every scene they're in a boost of comic energy. An uneven but enjoyable movie that may suffer from viewers having overly high expectations due to Vaughn and Aniston's celebrity. --Bret Fetzer
The Break-Up (Full Screen Edition) Reviews:
Is there a negative star rating? 
2008-11-19 - If there were, I'd give this movie a negative five star. It's horrible. It's not the acting; it's the plot, the script, all the yelling and awkward moments in front of friends, and the ending? I won't give that away, but it not only made no sense, it looked the beginning of another movie, not the ending to this one. Horrible waste of two hours.
Yes, it's as bad as its reputation....
2008-11-17 - I don't know why, but I decided to watch this one afternoon, despite my general contempt for Hollywood romantic comedies. Well, the contempt just got bigger. This is a wretchingly poor film, one of the most tired, unbelievable (even by abysmally low Hollywood romantic comedy standards), and boring films I've seen in a while.
First of all, the main story of Vaughn and Aniston getting together and being a full fledged couple is garbage. It's another variation of the overbearing, obnoxious slob (Vaughn, who plays an obnoxious, terminally immature tour guide in Chicago) with a cerebral, intelligent woman who works in an art gallery (Aniston). These two would NEVER get together in real life, much start a real relationship. Opposite may attract, but these two are at the furthest opposite ends of the pole. And at the beginning of the film when Vaughn and Aniston meet, she says she's with someone. Who was this guy? Was he so bad that she would dump him for an overbearing, but charming at first sight, jerk like Vaughn? Well, I've seen some women dump the nicest, most caring guys for completely selfish, immature jerks, and regret it years later, so maybe there's a bit a truth in that. Regardless...
The dialogue in the film is worse than a made for TV movie. It's badly written, and Vaughn and Anniston can't make the material any better. Vaughn is rather one note in his career, always playing obnoxious, over confident guys like this, and Anniston, as beautiful as she is, is not a particularly good actress. She has limited range. The film seems very long at 90 minutes, and it's ulimately grueling to watch to the end. There's a few laughs (mostly from Anniston's singing brother, but even those are overdone), but overall, it's one of the worst films I've seen in a very long time.
the break up... 
2008-08-23 - I found myself relating to this movie. It was funny to me. The ending was great.
One couple, one condo, and one break up equals fighting without end. Boyfriend takes girl for granted, girlfriend says things she doesn't mean equals break up.
This is not a family movie because of language and some content.
Not a feel-good, laugh-riot comedy, but... interesting
2008-08-11 - A pretty entertaining, thoughtful movie if you ignore the bouncy/fun art on the DVD box and forget the bouncy/fun marketing campaign when this movie hit theaters a couple of years back. This is not a romantic comedy but rather a drama with some comedy sprinkled in, or- at best- a 50/50 mix of drama and comedy. If you go in knowing that, you won't be put off (as I was until I got into the right groove) by all the intense, shadowy lighting and the intense, pain-laced arguments. Once you know what you're getting, you'll enjoy the well-crafted intensity and the handful of funny moments, too (Jon Favreau is a riot as Vince Vaughn's protective friend).
The extra features are pretty illuminating, too. That's where we learn that the film's tone was unambiguously intentional on the part of Vince Vaughn and director Peyton Reed, who essentially said, "we hate those brightly lit, goofy romantic comedies that don't have a thread of true complexity in them!" Oh, and for an entertaining lesson in the art of film-making, be sure to watch the Vince Vaughn/Jon Favreau improv sessions, also among the special features. You'll see five or so improvised takes of a conversation in a bar between the two actors, while in character. It's fun to see what responses they come up with on the spur of the moment as each actor takes turns throwing openings and straight lines at the other. In the end, pieces of all the takes were edited together to produce the actual scene in the movie.
So, again, if you don't mind a little nuance and complexity in your comedic dramas (or your dramatic comedies, or whatever you want to call this mixed-up genre), give "The Break-Up" a try.
BETTER THAN I EXPECTED 
2008-08-03 - This is a great rainy Saturday movie. I'm not a big fan of Jennifer Aniston because she is always, well, Jennifer Aniston. But that works for her. The same thing with Vince Vaughn - he's the big goof in comedies and eerily frightening in dramatic vehicles. But, together, they make a nice team with believeable chemistry. They are nicely supported by Jason Batement and Jon Favreau. Vincent D'Onofrio is a chameleon, barely recognizeable as the over-analytical detective in television's "Law & Order: Criminal Intent". The plot here is a lot less violent than "The War Of The Roses", but telling the same story in a more civilized and delightful manner. The ending was perfect, leaving the viewer with the sense that there's room for a sequel. Hopefully, that will never happen, but we can just follow Aniston's real-life workaholic/on-again-off-again romances/friendships/"friends-with-benefits"/booty calls/boyfriends-of-the-week/still trying to get over Brad and Angelina/ saga.
