Fridae

Let's just get this out of the way from the very beginning — The Break-Up is not a romantic comedy. It may have the leads “meeting cute” and falling in love at the start, but it soon skips the entire middle part and goes directly to the worst outcome possible — a break-up.

From that point on the movie becomes one where people just aren't very nice to one another, and yet there just isn't enough character development to root for any of them. Although similar in theme to the excellent The War of the Roses, The Break-Up ranks far below the cult classic.

Gary (Vince Vaugn) and Brooke (Jennifer Aniston) seem to be the perfect couple — after meeting cute at a ballgame, the two become an item, and before you know it, are living together in a co-owned condo. However, the perfect relationship crumbles in one night, when the couple become mired in an argument so severe that they decide to break up. However, neither party is intending to move out of the condo, and so they try ways and mean to force the other person out.

The problem with The Break-Up is that the film pulls its punches — unlike The War of the Roses where the leads go at each other with no holds barred, the revenge dynamics in The Break-Up feel watered down and unsatisfying, and without a strong core story the movie feels lost. The Break-Up cannot seem to decide if it wants to be a melodrama, a comedy or a romance, and in the end it does not manage to excel in any of the three categories. Director Peyton Reed also allows some scenes to last much longer than they should, which does not work in the movie's favour.

Jennifer Aniston proves once again that she is more than just a pretty face, and her performance as Brooke, especially in the weepy moments, is above average. Vince Vaughn, on the other hand, is flat and a little uninspired. There may be a few moments that sparkle, but The Break-Up is just as difficult to watch as a real-life break-up.