The Break-Up (www.the-usher.com)

"That's it, I'm done"

Brooke

Gary (Vaughn) and Brooke's (Aniston) relationship might have seemed perfect to some but things had been bubbling under the surface for quite a long time. Gary is oblivious to this however and after a family dinner party of which Gary has contributed nothing again, Brooke has taken as much as she can take and ends the relationship. The problem is that they both own the condo and neither of them will move out. So now it is all out warfare to push each other out.

Hollywood romantic comedies are finally starting to grow up and appeal to the thirty-plus audience but can 'The Break-Up' continue this trend.

The grown up romantic comedy had been the stable of the British film industry for many years. After successes with 'Four Weddings and a Funeral', 'Nottinghill', 'Love Actually' and the 'Bridget Jones' movies, the British set the standard when it came to appealing to the older romantic comedy fans. Hollywood however has struggled since stalwarts like Meg Ryan, Sandra Bullock, Tom Hanks and Billy Crystal became too old to appeal or moved on to more dramatic or critically acclaimed roles. The rom-com then became the domain of the up and coming teenage star and the Brits took over. This all changed however with 'My Big, Fat Greek Wedding' became the monster hit of 2002.

Hollywood executives suddenly realised that appealing to an older audience might actually be an untapped revenue resource again. After hits like 'The Wedding Crashers', 'The 40 Year-Old Virgin', 'In Her Shoes' and 'Meet the Parents', romantic comedies with a much broader appeal across the age groups and the sexes. 'The Break-Up' is another film that tries to do this.

A successful romantic comedy has to appeal to both male and female viewers. There is nothing worse than been dragged to a movie by your wife, girlfriend, husband or boyfriend and having to sit through something that you cannot stand. It is a very delicate balance that has to be found because if you overdose on any element such as too much lovey-dovey romance or too much gross-out sexual comedy and you will alienate one of the sexes, the bad news is that 'The Break-Up' plays far too much to the female members of the audience.

The film starts well by setting up the break up as a real lack of communication between Gary and Brooke, with both of them seemingly at fault but as the film progresses it becomes clear that it is Gary who is to blame for the failure of the relationship. This loses the excellent Vince Vaughn any of his appeal to the female part of the audience. Jennifer Aniston then instantly becomes the wronged party and the one that you should be routing for. While she is an actress that you cannot help but like, the early arguments she has with Gary will resonate with every male that has ever been in long term relationship, putting you in his corner but after this you are pushed into routing for Brooke.

Both Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston are excellent as Gary and Brooke. Each of them plays the roles as very average, if very good looking people, who have the same problems as everyone else. They both have just the right amount of appeal but it is the story that makes Vince's character the bad guy, later in the film. The supporting cast is filled with good comedic actor but unfortunately none of them are utilised to the best of their abilities. 'Swingers' partner Jon Favreau provides most of the laughs as Gary's over protective and quite unsupportive friend Johnny O. Both Justin Long and John Michael Higgins are hilarious as two very different camp characters. Cole Hauser and Vincent D'Onofrio are slightly underused as Gary's brothers Lupus and Dennis. The biggest waste of comedic talent however is Jason Bateman's Riggleman character but he does get the chance to shine when he is given the limited opportunities.

'The Break-Up' is another romantic comedy that will appeal to an older audience but unfortunately it will alienate the male watchers. By making everything Gary's fault, the male and female viewers quickly lose their connection with the character and this makes the film far too one sided for cross appeal. This aside, the film is still a lot better than the average Hollywood romantic comedy and another step in the right direction.

PICTURE & SOUND

Presented in Widescreen 1.85:1 Anamorphic with a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, the transfer is good.

BONUS FEATURES

Feature Commentary with actors Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston
The two stars of the film come together to provide a fun commentary track for 'The Break-Up'. They talk about how they approached the movie and how they incorporated improvisation into the their performances. The also discuss the story behind the story and what it was like working together. This is a fun and chatty commentary that fans will adore.

Alternative Ending (5.05 mins)
Watch the original ending for the movie before it was changed after test screenings.

Deleted Scenes (8.12 mins)
Entitled 'Phone calls post-break-up', 'Outside the nightclub', 'The nightclub', 'Gary pickup', 'Gary melts down on the bus' and 'Gary at the bookstore', these deleted scenes suffer from the lack of an introduction or commentary track.

Extended Scenes (1.59 mins)
Entitled 'Extended dinner scene', 'Brooke's gutter ball' and 'Brooke's date', watch the full, unedited versions of these scenes.

Outtakes (11.33 mins)
Entitled 'Gary on the Bus', 'Richard', 'Christopher waters the plant', 'Gary kicked off the team', 'Gary countertop rants', 'Go see Mischa' and 'Gary on the boat', these scenes showcase the improvisational skills of the cast.

OVERALL

The compilation of outtakes, deleted and extended scenes gives up a little bit of your favourite characters but the lack of any featurettes could be disappointing to fans. This is made up for by the inclusion of a great commentary track that is a very good listen. This makes the DVD package for 'The Break Up' one that fans will enjoy.

DVD

Failure to Launch

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2006