The Break-Up

I just finished rewatching "The Break-Up". Caught it by chance on tv and enjoyed it a lot.

It is definitely not a slapstick comedy, but a mature, sincere, sad comedy. To be honest, I think it results funny -and it has indeed some really funny parts- in spite of itself. But it's a movie about breaking up, and the couple fight moments it shows (plenty of them, that's the point!) make me really, really uncomfortable, specially when they involve relatives or friends as unwitting witnesses...

Vince Vaughn resorts again to his trademark fast-talking ability, but plays here a deeper than usual character for him. The supporting cast is great, with rounded characters no matter how short their parts. Jon Favreau and Judy Davis as Vaughn's friend and Aniston's boss respectively, complement brilliantly each of the leading actors and steal their scenes, and even the probably most stereotyped character, played by Justin Long, turns out to be pretty believable.

Jennifer Aniston, well, I dug her a lot in "Friends", where I think she wasn't so worried about making a fool of herself, but in movies she's been playing it safe with the same sweet, dull character she always embraces so effectively. However, I really liked her in here. She made me believe her frustration and feel truly sorry for her, and had such a good chemistry with Vaughn, an essential ingredient to make the story work.

In the end, this is a very honest portrait about love(-hate) relationships, differences between women and men, and how easy it is to take someone for granted until you're losing her/him. And even then, what stupid things can be done/said to drive that person away instead of fixing anything!

If you're a man, and ever found yourself in a situation you're girlfriend is mad at you because of something you ignore, but know that asking her why will just make everything worse (or if you've been that girl and couldn't believe he was clueless)... then you may be able to relate to this story the way I did.

This is a movie I feel easily identified with and leaves me with a melancholic mood after I watch it, things I appreciate in a film. Definitely not for someone looking for the typical "romcom", but a bitter yet humorous approach to bad ending of love relationships.