Synopsis
A hip, hot and sexy lesson in love.
Three days into his Miami honeymoon, Lenny meets tall, blonde Kelly. This confirms him in his opinion that he has made a serious mistake and he decides he wants Kelly instead.
The Heartbreak Kid
1972 Directed by Elaine May
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Alternative Titles
O Rapaz Que Partia Corações, Le brise-cœur
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Popular reviews
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Just fucking terrific. Charles Grodin has always been one of the best “put upon” actors I’ve ever known but this movie also shows what a joy it is to watch him be a undeservingly joyful schmuck. The pecan pie restaurant scene is truly outstanding. And Jeannie Berlin! God, she’s so good. (And very attractive! Not the point but I found all her “annoying” antics very charming! Call me Jeannie!!) Not at all shocked she got the Oscar nom, back when good comedic performances could do such a thing. Wish they’d shown us this movie in every film school class I took instead of The Graduate. Wonderful film, wish the death of a legend hadn’t been the final push I needed to watch it. RIP Charles Grodin.
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“Certainly I remember Florida. I’ll never forget it. But this is Minnesota, and I’ve got Political Science, and I’ve gotta go.”
read quite a few reviews that essentially summed elaine may’s sophomore film up as a a fusion of her comedy partner mike nichols’s The Graduate and the improvisational style of john cassavetes, which initially made me think “hmmm ..... love mike and john but .... why are we tying elaine’s accomplishments to her male collaborators ...“
then i watched it and realized these reviews were accurate, which really drove home the film’s message of “nothing is ever as simple as you think it is and you have no idea what you want, idiot”
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Why is the final shot of this film not as celebrated as the final shot of The Graduate?
Following the biting, tone-perfect brilliance of what comes before it, that final shot, those final moments, Lenny and us left in the blank of what he has chosen, is just as savagely insightful.
The two films, at the very least, belong in the same conversation.
Additional thoughts 2/6/15:
But I can't stop thinking about this movie. As sharply insightful as it is about the soullessness of the American dream and about relationships, it's hard to get away from. It takes that self-justifying pursuit of one's own dreams - that grandiose idea that anything and everyone is worth sacrificing for that dream -… -
wow, I really hope this gets a restoration/re-release
how wonderful to see something (not sure if i want to say “older” or “finally” here, whatever—but to see something that wasn’t exactly obvious to me for a while) and immediately clock all of the things that were important to me that were inspired by this and drew from this.
uh oh I love movies 😢
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the graduate seems to be the most obvious point of comparison but when watching, i was struck by the similarities to martin scorsese's the king of comedy. this movie is supposed to be hilarious and it's hilarious precisely because of the odious, oblivious main character, much like rupert pupkin. we are meant to be hideously uncomfortable because lenny does not understand social graces nor does he comprehend himself, his effect on others, or what he wants. we laugh at him, not with him.
elaine may is officially the patron saint of unlikeable male characters harmed by their own inability to connect or understand themselves, by the way. marty who?
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one of the funniest, most pathetic and anxious depictions i've seen of male ego/self-destruction. grodin has this perfectly-pitched awkward confidence of a man who can't help but treat every impulsive decision and interaction as an active sales pitch, and very impressed by may's stillness and control with the camera. makes the neurotic pursuit of the overt delusion (that's obvious to everyone but him) even funnier when it occasionally lingers or pulls back from his POV and just breaks for a split second before we're thrust right back into his single-minded drive.
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"Sometimes I'll start a sentence, and I don't even know where it's going. I just hope I find it along the way. Like an improv conversation. An improversation."
- Michael Scott/the general mood of Charles Grodin in this sharp, cutting masterwork. Elaine May's best, easily a top five 70s picture, why aren't you watching this right now?
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“There's no insincerity in those potatoes. There's no deceit in the cauliflower. This is a totally honest meal.”
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