The Heartbreak Kid

Respectfully disagree with the reviewer who called this film " a pauper's 'Graduate' " It couldn't be further from the mark, and this in no way is meant to diminish Mike Nichol's excellent 1967 film. On the surface "Heartbreak Kid" doesn't appear to take itself as seriously as The Graduate, but upon repeated viewing it proves itself the other film's equal in nearly every respect and actually surpasses it in others. It's a testament to the talents of Nichol's performing partner Elaine May, who directed daughter Jeannie Berlin and Charles Grodin in this 1972 gem. Many people are thrown by the film, likely because it's neither comedy nor drama. It's closer to black comedy, but even this doesn't cover it. Its ending frustrates many, but fits the film's theme beautifully. The individual performances are sublime - Grodin hits the ball out of the park, and Jeannie Berlin delivers a performance that makes one wonder why she never went on to greater things. She absolutely steals the scene wh... Read more

I think every man who finally takes the big step,has second thoughts about it at some point. Usually when a beautiful women gives him the eye.....but few men take it to the extreme that Lenny does. Who can blame him? Cybill Shepherd is absolutely stunning,and Lenny is absolutely smitten. The only question that bothered me is what in the world did she see in him? No matter,Charles Grodin got just enough attention from her that he decides he is going to make Kelly his,and nothing is going to stand in his way.....not her ultra conservative father, who can't stand Lenny.....not even the fact that he is on his honeymoon. It soon becomes very evident that Lenny is a cad,and a cold hearted liar when he finally dumps his new bride and sets out on his relentless pursuit of Kelly. I can't say enough about the acting in this movie. Eddie Albert was terrific as the protective,right wing father, from the Midwest. I think Charles Grodin did his best work ever in this movie,and really brings the char... Read more

From the opening scenes accompanied with the opening sound track the similarities with a much better comedy "The Graduate" becomes clear. The Simon and Garfunkel-sounding clone track to the very "odd" ending borrow heavily from "The Graduate" formula. Both films cover taboo topics and things that just weren't done in those days designed to shock and entertain the audience at the same time. Both make heavy use of the popular music soundtrack with Burt Bacharach's doing here what Simon & Garfunkel's did to much better effect on "The Graduate". I sympathise with another reviewer who's just as confused as I was a couple of years back with the choices for AFI best ever comedies and I think the selection criteria had nothing to do with films that necessarily make you laugh until you split your sides but more so films with "substance" as well although I am not suggesting that I believe this film should be among the list either. The "substance" here is arguably the directing skills of E... Read more

Lenny and Lila are a young Jewish couple who meet in New York, fall in love and marry. They decide to honeymoon in Miami Beach. On the drive down, Lenny starts noticing little things about Lila that are annoying..how loud she can be, how she eats. Their first day in Miami, she gets a bad sun burn and is confined to their room..he spends his time at the beach and meets the ultimate blonde WASP from Minnesota, Kelly...and immediately falls in love. How does he tell Lila and how does he tell Kelly's father he's on his HONEYMOON?? This is a hilarious comedy with Charles Grodin, Jeannie Berlin and Cybill Shephard.

Loosely based on a short story by one of America's top satirists, Bruce Jay Friedman ("A Change of Plan"), The Heartbreak Kid (yes, this is the original version from 1972) is a sharp piece of biting comedy that skewers the American way when it comes to "getting ahead" in the romance department. And who but a salesman as the male protagonist--after marrying in haste a goofy, blowzy Jewish princess (well played by Jeannie Berlin, daughter of director Elaine May), our salesman (Charles Grodin (in "no one else could do the role justice" casting) falls for WASPy Cybill Shepherd whose father, Eddie Albert, is a hard-nosed cynical father WASP who knows a sleazy opportunist when he sees one, and instinctively hates our salesman right off the bat. The casting is absolutely perfect; the dialogue crackles and snaps, and I would have to say that this is definitely one of the best American comedies not only of the 1970s, but even one of the best 25 American comedies in the last 40 years. ... Read more