The Break-Up

Not your conventional romantic comedy, both Vince Vaughan and Jennifer Aniston give The Break-Up a stirring sense of reality amongst all the humour.

The plot: Brooke (Aniston) and Gary (Vaughan) are a couple wildly in love. The only problem is that he has a chip on his shoulder and increasingly takes the relationship for granted. Eventually, they have a fight that causes her to break up with him in what becomes an increasingly bitter battle. This isn't helped by neither of them wanting to move out of their shared condo.

There is a bit more to the plot, but not much. Suffice it to say that the ending isn't conventional for a romantic comedy.

In summary: For a romantic comedy, there isn't much romance (maybe the first 5 minutes). The comedy is very good and can be quite painful at times. The ending is clearly where Vaughan (Producer and Co-writer) has tried to stand this film out from the crowd, though I don't see this as its strength.

The characters develop very well and clearly change through the course of the film - something missing in most romantic comedies. There isn't a life-changing moment here - the characters' development mirrors the progress of the break-up exceptionally well. This is clearly the essence of the film's allure.

IF YOU DON'T WANT MORE OF A HINT AT THE ENDING DON'T READ ON

The Casablanca comparison: Rick and Ilsa never had fights like this, but the ending marginally resembles Casablanca, except imagine Ilsa saying to Rick that she has to get on the plane.

The rating: 7 out of 10. The Break-Up has some very funny moments and can be enjoyed just for those. It's ending is unconventional and the last scene - clearly shot long after initial filming to allow Vaughan to lose weight (à la Tom Hanks in Cast Away) - doesn't quite convey anything. Maybe it shouldn't - the sort-of uneasy meeting of former lovers. It got me thinking at least, which is more than I can say for most films of the genre.

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