SYNOPSIS:
Pushed to the breaking-up point art dealer Brooke calls it quits
with her boyfriend. What follows is a series of remedies, war
tactics, overtures and underminings suggested by the former
couple's friends, confidantes and the occasional total stranger.
When neither ex is willing to move out of the condo they used
to share, the only solution is to continue living as hostile
roommates until somebody caves.
MOVIE
REVIEW :
There
are many ways that a relationship could be ended. In this
latest romantic comedy by Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston,
we examined one form of a relationship failure. One without
any third party interference and seemly inconsequential initially
but the eventual buildup can prove near fatal to any relationship.
In
the Break-Up, Gary (Vince Vaughn) and Brooke (Jennifer Aniston),
represents the typical couple that had bought an apartment
together and seemly ready for marriage. A regular dinner with
their respective family members unexpectedly sparks off the
most trivial arguments that almost every couples should had
encountered before.
And
these trivial arguments are the catalyst that set off the
momentum of this movie, as two of them spiraled down the path
towards a breakup.
Since
both of them shared ownership of the apartment and as the
argument between them gets more heated, their realtor friend
offers to step in and sell the apartment so that they won’t
have to go through the constant bickering and cold war.
And
with that, it sets the time limits for this couple. Will they
find a way to patch back before their apartment is sold? Or
will they continue their silly fights until their relationship
is truly beyond salvation?
The
answer might just surprise some viewers. However in terms
of relatability, this movie gave a result that’s more
probable to real life and it’s a refreshing change from
the numerous miraculous endings that Hollywood had been churning
out.
The
real life chemistry between Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston
transferred well into their characters and it’s not
difficult for someone to root for them to get back together
as it’s rather evident that their (real or reel) love
are still there.
And
although this movie doesn’t have the comedic highs among
the leagues of Wedding Crashers or Dodge Ball, it does well
enough to raise a few chuckles in situations that you might
have encounter in real life.
For
potential viewers who went through or are currently going
through the same type of break up that Gary and Brooke did,
I would strongly recommend you to pick this title up for a
form of remembrance or warning of what small arguments could
do a relationship if not treated early.
SPECIAL
FEATURES :
Before access to the main menu, you will be given an option
of choosing his or her side. Each side presents a different
menu filled with his (Vince Vaughn) or her (Jennifer Aniston)
stills and background music. Not that it’s a spectacular
feature but it was a nice touch in preparing the viewers for
this movie.
Feature
Commentary by Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaugh -
This HVN Dvd version of The Break-up comes with only one commentary
track by Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston. It’s rather
strange as most Dvds I came across would contain at least
one director’s commentary track and it’s sorely
missing in this Dvd. Nevertheless, Vince Vaughn and Jennifer
Aniston both shared considerable insight on the preparation
and what was improvised upon which we have to made do with
the missing director’s track.
Alternate
Ending - The alternate ending wasn’t the exact
opposite spectrum of this film’s ending that I was expecting
and hopping for. It’s basically the same dish with some
extra garish of what became of the two main character’s
lives. The best bit of this alternate ending which I felt
should have made into the final ending, was the rendition
of Rainbow’s Connection by the two wackiest characters
in this movie. It’s mildly amusing but a rather heartfelt
summary of the film.
Deleted/Extended
Scenes - The extended scenes and deleted scenes were
sorely missing some sort of commentary on why it’s left
from the final cut and the outtakes scenes which felt like
it was another extended and deleted scenes section. There
isn’t a scene where the actor makes a mistakes and break
into spontaneous laughter. It’s felt more like a rehearsed
scene that what outtakes usually are but nevertheless, it
does showcase the actor’s talent to take the scene and
improvised with it.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
This
dialogue filled movies comes with (surprise surprise!) 5.1
Dolby Digital in three languages; English, Japanese and Thai.
It also comes in 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen with 7 subtitles
for the main track and equally more for the audio commentary
by the two leading stars..
MOVIE
RATING:
DVD
RATING:
Review
by Richard Lim Jr
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