Review: Box office loves Aniston’s, Vaughn’s ‘Break-Up’

Consider such classics as “It Happened One Night,” “His Girl Fri-

day,” Alfred Hitchcock’s (not the Pitt/Jolie) “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” and “Annie Hall.”

Recently, the success of “When Harry Met Sally,” “Sleepless in Seattle,” “Bridget Jones’s Diary,” “Punch Drunk Love” and so many others proves that the audience for romantic comedies is as big, or bigger than ever.

One key aspect to this type of movie is the pairing of the lead actors.

Tracy and Hepburn is probably the most well-known team. Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable made “It Happened One Night” one of the most enduring films in any genre. Carole Lombard seemed to be able to sizzle with nearly any decent leading man.

Lately, Meg Ryan, Julia Roberts and Rene Zellweger have been favorite leading ladies while Tom Hanks and Hugh Grant are on the A-list of romantic comedy actors. Even Adam Sandler has graduated from sophomoric humor films to become a decent romantic/comic leading man.

The latest “R/C” duo to hit the screen is Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn in Peyton Reed’s “The Break-Up,” based on a story by Vaughn, who also served as one of the producers.

“The Break-Up” is not as high on the ladder as any of the films mentioned above, but it does have a number of original twists. And the talent of the cast, to a person, cannot be disputed.

Vaughn plays Gary Grobowski, “brother number two” in the Three Brothers Tour Line, a company that gives bus tours of Chicago.

Gary’s a showman, something like a carnival barker, and the groups signing up for the tours are always entertained.

In the opening segment, Gary uses a combination of his fast talk, coupled with a “ballpark hot dog ploy” to literally walk off with another man’s date.

She is Brooke Meyers, played by Jennifer Aniston, who has never looked better. That aside, she’s never performed better in a role, either.

Brooke and Gary are from completely different worlds but seem to hit it off. After a nicely shot photo montage that tells the story of the couple’s getting together, we end up in the present where we witness the falling apart.

Brooke and Gary live in a nice Chicago condo, and when Gary comes home from work with only three lemons (it’s a long story … ), we realize things aren’t going well with the couple.

Gary likes to loaf around, play video games and watch sports. Brooke, who works full time at a posh art gallery, does the cooking, cleaning and everything else around the house.

Things go from bad to worse, and the couple decide to split up.

The fly in the ointment is the fact neither one of them wants to give up the condo.

In a premise reminiscent of “The War of the Roses,” Gary and Brooke divide the condo.

Gary sets about living his life with his buddies. He even gets the pool table he’s wanted for so long.

Brooke tries to fight back, but her heart isn’t really in it. She actually still loves Gary and wants him back … with a few changes.

On the advice of her artist/boss, played by Judy Davis, Brooke sets about to make Gary jealous. Davis was in a similar movie, “The Ref,” playing a role akin to Aniston’s here.

The plan doesn’t work, at first. In fact, it makes things worse.

Gary gets some advice from the most unlikely of places. His pal, Steve O. (Jon Favreau), is usually offering to get a couple of guys to beat up the men who are courting Brooke. But this once, his advice is insightful.

The last act of “The Break-Up” begins with the usual sort of thing expected in this kind of film.

We are sure we know exactly how the story will end.

It doesn’t end that way. Rumor has it that the ending was re-shot, and it really does stray from form a bit.

Critics are all over the map on this film, but the box-office numbers seem to say the public loves it.

I thought it was good, not great, but the cast makes it well-worth watching. Aniston’s acting chops keep getting better. She does a crying scene that really tugs at the viewer’s heart.

“The Break-Up” is a nice diversion. With the box office sales it’s getting and the way the story ends, expect a sequel in 2007.

Jim Wunderle owns Wunderle Sound Services and is a Springfield free-lance writer and musician. He can be reached at info@wunderlesound.com.[[In-content Ad]]