{"id":12946,"date":"2010-10-22T12:26:55","date_gmt":"2010-10-22T19:26:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=12946"},"modified":"2021-01-29T17:05:54","modified_gmt":"2021-01-30T00:05:54","slug":"heartbreak-kid-the-1972","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=12946","title":{"rendered":"Heartbreak Kid, The (1972)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;I married a grouch!&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Heartbreak-Kid-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Heartbreak-Kid-Poster-213x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"213\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-66858\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Heartbreak-Kid-Poster-213x300.jpg 213w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Heartbreak-Kid-Poster-91x128.jpg 91w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Heartbreak-Kid-Poster-192x270.jpg 192w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Heartbreak-Kid-Poster.jpg 337w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 213px) 100vw, 213px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA newlywed (Charles Grodin) falls in love with a gorgeous blonde (Cybill Shepherd) he meets on his honeymoon, and suddenly realizes he should never have married his wife (Jeannie Berlin).\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Black Comedy<\/li>\n<li>Cross-Class Romance<\/li>\n<li>Cybill Shepherd Films<\/li>\n<li>Eddie Albert Films<\/li>\n<li>Elaine May Films<\/li>\n<li>Marital Problems<\/li>\n<li>Neil Simon Films<\/li>\n<li>Newlyweds<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary&#8217;s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPeary begins his review of <em>The Heartbreak Kid<\/em> &#8212; director Elaine May&#8217;s second feature film &#8212; by noting the &#8220;interesting phenomenon&#8221; of &#8220;Jewish boys from the East [who] may end up marrying Jewish girls from the East&#8221; but &#8220;invariably get wild crushes on blond Midwest WASPs&#8221; &#8212; exactly the scenario played out in this wickedly funny black comedy, scripted by Neil Simon and based on the short story &#8220;A Change of Plan&#8221; by Bruce Jay Friedman. As we watch this &#8220;series of short skits strung together, in which Grodin somehow manages again and again to talk, through prime BS, a bad situation into his favor&#8221;, we do indeed &#8220;shake our heads because we can&#8217;t believe he has the gall to say what we&#8217;re hearing, or [to be] so tactless and insensitive, or&#8230; to get away with what he does&#8221;. <\/p>\n<p>Indeed, it&#8217;s deeply discomfiting to find oneself laughing at Grodin&#8217;s bald-faced deceit towards his hapless wife, who becomes trapped in the ultimate living nightmare during what should be the happiest time of her life. Nonetheless, the film is so full of &#8220;hilarious, sharply satirical scenes&#8221; &#8212; Berlin irritating Grodin by drawing circles on his chest; Berlin smearing egg salad all over her face; Grodin waxing enthusiastic about the humble pleasures of midwestern food &#8212; that we can&#8217;t help remaining glued to the screen, curious to know what will happen next to our determined anti-hero. Deftly directed by May, and wonderfully acted by the &#8220;superb cast&#8221; &#8212; including Jeannie Berlin in what should have been a career-defining role (what happened?), Eddie Albert in a priceless performance as Kelly&#8217;s WASPy father (who solemnly asserts he wouldn&#8217;t approve of Grodin &#8220;if you tied me to a horse and dragged me forty miles by my tongue&#8221;), and Audra Lindley as Kelly&#8217;s &#8220;easily impressed mother&#8221; (watch her quietly hilarious silent reactions). <\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong> The parallels between this and May&#8217;s feature debut, <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=9936\"><em>A New Leaf<\/em> (1971)<\/a>, are startlingly clear: Grodin&#8217;s Lenny Cantrow and Walter Matthau&#8217;s Henry Graham are both arrogant, self-centered men who make life miserable for their new wives (Jeannie Berlin and Elaine May, respectively) &#8212; both of whom are sloppy, mildly irritating, but ultimately utterly endearing to audiences. Knowing Berlin is May&#8217;s real-life daughter makes the parallels even eerier. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Charles Grodin as Lenny<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/heartbreak-kid-grodin.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/heartbreak-kid-grodin.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"400\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12950\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Jeannie Berlin as Lila<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/heartbreak-kid-berlin.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/heartbreak-kid-berlin.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"400\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12951\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Eddie Albert as Kelly&#8217;s disapproving father<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/heartbreak-kid-albert2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/heartbreak-kid-albert2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"400\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12952\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Audra Lindley as Kelly&#8217;s mother<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/heartbreak-kid-lindley.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/heartbreak-kid-lindley.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"400\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12953\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Many humorously memorable scenes<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/heartbreak-kid-egg-salad.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/heartbreak-kid-egg-salad.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"400\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12954\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/heartbreak-kid-cream.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/heartbreak-kid-cream.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"400\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12955\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Neil Simon&#8217;s dark but often hilarious screenplay:<br \/>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;There is no deceit in the cauliflower.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, as a disturbingly provocative dark comedy.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Good Show<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0068687\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1972\/12\/18\/archives\/heartbreak-kidelaine-mays-2d-effort-as-director-arrives.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/reviews\/the-heartbreak-kid-1972\">Roger Ebert&#8217;s Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.combustiblecelluloid.com\/classic\/hbkido.shtml\">Combustible Celluloid Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/movies\/the-heartbreak-kid-1\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;I married a grouch!&#8221; Synopsis: A newlywed (Charles Grodin) falls in love with a gorgeous blonde (Cybill Shepherd) he meets on his honeymoon, and suddenly realizes he should never have married his wife (Jeannie Berlin). Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Black Comedy Cross-Class Romance Cybill Shepherd Films Eddie Albert Films Elaine May Films Marital Problems Neil Simon Films Newlyweds Response to Peary&#8217;s Review: Peary begins his review of The Heartbreak Kid &#8212; director Elaine May&#8217;s second feature film &#8212; by&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=12946\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12946"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12946\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66861,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12946\/revisions\/66861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}