CriticSociety- film reviews

Review

Heartbreakers

Director

David Mirkin

Year

2001

Rating

Reviewed by

José Ruiloba a.k.a. Morris

Review date

Sunday, September 23, 2001

Without any doubt, Heartbreakers is one of my favorite guilty pleasures of the year so far.

Mother and daughter (Sigourney Weaver and Jennifer Love Hewitt) join forces by making a living out of deceiving people. Specifically, Weaver usually marries guys only to find them afterwards being seduced by Hewitt and then settling juicy divorce settlements. The thing is: Hewitt now wants to go on her own, so they plan one last big hit in South Beach, Florida, where money abounds. Their perfect target thus becomes an old, almost-dying man (Gene Hackman), while Hewitt sets on a quest of her own involving a young and noble man (Jason Lee).

Heartbreakers has no other intention than to entertain and make its audience laugh. The actors seem to be having such a great time that it becomes contagious. I totally fell for this movie. It is charming, funny, clever, different and easy on the eye. What else do you want?

The best scenes involve Weaver and Hewitt doing all kinds of tricks to accomplish whatever they want, from free meals to free hotel rooms. I loved the scene where they make a bet and compete against each other at the hotel’s bar. Hilarious!

Of course, the movie is not without its flaws. An apparent one has to do with the movie being a bit overlong and dragging a little during the last 45 minutes. But overcoming those faults is an easy task and the viewer always remains interested in what these damsels will do next.

As with almost all silly comedies of the type, this one’s got a moral lesson at the core, but it never becomes preachy or artificial. Things just evolve the way they should, and the mother/daughter relationship portrayed also delivers great moments of truth.

Sigourney Weaver and Jennifer Love Hewitt make an excellent pair. Both are just at the top of their forms, willing to make fun of themselves and just letting everything go in order to keep on with what the script requires them to do. Both are great at comedy and it shows. Weaver is specially funny, but Hewitt’s good as well. It helps that both look stunning. Gene Hackman plays a one-joke character admirably. I was impressed by the way he was willing to play second-fiddle, but his presence is very welcomed. Jason Lee, Ray Liotta and Anne Brancroft all deliver great performances.

With Danny Elfman’s great playful score and David Mirkin’s hand behind the cameras, Heartbreakers delivers the goods!

“I may be possessed, or the Antichrist, but I guess those aren't possibilities the male penis ponders.”

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