the heartbreak kid ( reviewed on aug . 26th/1998 )
starring charles grodin , cybill sheppard , eddie albert
in ” the heartbreak kid ” , charles grodin plays one of the most unbelievably obnoxious characters i’ve seen on screen in a long time .
he’s a guy who spends virtually the entire running time of the movie bullshitting his way from one situation to another .
i doubt he ever expressed any genuine feeling at all during the film .
as the film opens , he has just gotten married , and is on the way to miami beach for his honeymoon .
halfway there , he begins to resent his bride .
by the time he arrives at his hotel and has met the cybill sheppard character , he is ready to divorce his wife .
as played by grodin , this character is the type of person that nothing will ever be good enough for him .
the phrase ” the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence ” was practically written with him in mind .
however , if he finds something he really wants , he will pursue it for as long as it takes .
the only problem is , once he has it , he immediately loses interest .
the end of ” the heartbreak kid ” is both hilarious and sad for that very reason .
charles grodin is at his smarmy best here , and sheppard is quite appealing as the object of grodin’s desire .
however , the real scene stealer is jeannie berlin , daughter of director elaine may , as grodin’s whiny bride .
she owns every scene that she’s in , and makes you almost want to root for what the grodin character is trying to do .
” the heartbreak kid ” was written by neil simon and it shows .
simon loves to deconstruct and analyze human relationships , and he’s at the top of his game here .
as maddeningly obnoxious as the grodin character is , he’s the type of guy that everyone knows .
the character of george costanza on ” seinfeld ” seems to have been modelled after him .
the only problem with the film is that it’s not that funny , and it’s billed as a comedy .
as much as i could see the realism in the characters , it would have been nice to have a chuckle here and there .
” the heartbreak kid ” is not a date movie .
it has an extremely negative view of relationships , so seeing it with a girlfriend/boyfriend , could be hazardus to your health .