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'The Heartbreak Kid'

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BY GENE SEYMOUR | gene.seymour@newsday.com

October 5, 2007

With both Ben Stiller and the Farrelly Brothers, relativism doesn't enter into the equation. You're either comfortable with their squirmy, wormy species of comedy or you'd just as soon look away until their movies are over. "The Heartbreak Kid," which reunites Stiller with the Farrellys for the first time since 1998's "There's Something About Mary," offers an interesting dilemma for both sides of this divide.

Those who remember being gleefully grossed out by "Mary's" relentless piling-on of vile effects will find this remake of the 1972 Elaine May comedy to be less profligate with the glandular secretion gags. (But, they're there anyway, folks.) Meanwhile, those who think even nose-picking riffs on "Seinfeld" are going too far will find themselves pressed harder to ignore the knockabout humanity underpinning Peter and Bobby Farrelly's scatological slapstick.

Even Stiller, whose glowering slow-burn is an acquired taste for some, is a tad looser here as Eddie Cantrow, a sporting-goods store owner who's just turned 40 and is getting pressured by both his randy father (Jerry Stiller, Ben's real-life dad) and his henpecked best friend (Rob Corddry of "The Daily Show") to stop being so picky and find someone to settle down with.

So what, then, if Eddie barely knows Lila (Malin Akerman) days after meeting her on a street corner? Who couldn't marry such a gorgeous, winsome-looking blonde who cares about the environment? So they tie the knot and, somewhere between the wedding and their arrival in Mexico for their honeymoon, Eddie finds out that his princess is a pig; snorting, yowling and wallowing in wretched excess.

It's at this somewhat inconvenient time and place that Eddie meets the woman of his dreams: a down-to-earth Mississippi gal named Miranda (Michelle Monhagan), who brings out the best in him. Now all he has to do is figure out how to tell his high-strung bride that he's already grown away from her.

Eddie doesn't have the finesse for this task, and, for the most part, neither does the movie. The Farrellys' visual style remains as blocky as ever, a staggering, galloping montage of set-ups and reaction shots. For whatever reason, a prevailing theme of the gags in "The Heartbreak Kid" has to do with stuff coming in and out of one's nostrils. (Don't expect anything as inspired as "Something About Mary's" infamous hair-gel scene.) Some scenes end at just the right moment while others carry humiliation beyond the threshold of the most demanding sadomasochist.

And yet, for all its lapses in grace and pacing, "The Heartbreak Kid" somehow manages to wear away resistance with the simple charms exhibited by its cast, including Akerman, whose sportsmanship is above and beyond the call of duty.

THE HEARTBREAK KID (R). Embarrassment's virtuoso Ben Stiller reunites with directors Peter and Bobby Farrelly ("There's Something About Mary") for this raunchy, scatological remake of the 1972 movie about a guy who finds his dream woman (Michelle Monaghan) while honeymooning with another (Malin Akerman). With Rob Corddry and Jerry Stiller. 1:55 (vulgarities, racy humor, nudity.) At area theaters.