Heartbreakers
Ah, foolish men. Thinking with their schlongs when they should be using their heads. It's this foolishness that Maxine Conners (Sigourney Weaver) and her daughter Page (Jennifer Love Hewitt) exploit for financial gain in the recent comedy Heartbreakers.
Watching stupid men do stupid things for sex is a concept that has great comic potential. But the soggy script, written by Robert Dunn and Paul Guay, isn't nearly as biting as it needs to be, and the often melodramatic direction by David Markin weighs down what might have been a fun, witty comedy.
As the film begins, we witness the wedding of Maxine and Dean (Ray Liotta), a wealthy but not-so-bright guy who thinks Maxine is his true love. Alas, less than 24 hours later, Dean falls victim to the seductions of his secretary (Love Hewitt), and Maxine conveniently catches them in a compromising position. Marriage over, heavy divorce settlement to come. Score another victory for the Conners mother-daughter team.
As it turns out, this is just one of more than a dozen such scams Maxine and Page have pulled off, and Page is getting tired of the act. She's ready to work on her own, but Maxine doesn't think she's ready -- or doesn't want to lose her baby girl (never mind that she seems comfortable letting her daughter seduce men twice her age). Despite Page's misgivings, she agrees to take on one last job with her Mom.
Together they find the "perfect" subject: tobacco exec William Tensy (Gene Hackman), who despite his unappealing looks, funky breath and omnipresent cough, has the millions to make him an attractive target. While working their scam, Page meets a nice-guy bartender named Jack (Jason Lee), who also happens to be worth a few million. Of course, Page's instincts to scam Jack come into conflict with her growing genuine feelings for him. What's a girl to do?
While the cast and crew can't help but get a few laughs along the way, there are countless flaws that mire this film in mediocrity. Chief among them is the relationship between Page and Jack. At first, their crackling exchanges amuse and allow Jason Lee to show off the comedic talent that he displayed in Chasing Amy. But before long, the filmmakers try to convince us that true love is building between the two, and that's when things go downhill. If the lack of chemistry between Love Hewitt and Lee wasn't bad enough, the screenplay fails miserably to convince us that Jack has any reason for developing an emotional attachment to Page.
The movie's conclusion, in which the filmmakers try to make some wholesome points about telling the truth and being sincere, rings false. For starters, it's tough to root for Page and Jack to get together considering the brutal rollercoaster of emotions she's put him through. In addition, the "wholesome values" sentiment seems a bit hypocritical in a film about con artists who make a living deceiving others.
The film does boast a surprisingly strong cast, though not everyone shines. Weaver is a pro, and shows it in several humorous scenes in which she passes herself off as a wealthy Russian women. Love Hewitt, well cast as a sexy seductress dressed to kill, performs respectably when the tone stays light, though she's shaky in the more serious scenes -- a fact that the sappy writing doesn't help. Hackman is the biggest disappointment, coughing and sputtering in a mailed-in performance that ranks as a rare lowlight in his illustruous career. Liotta treads familiar territory that he's covered more effectively elsewhere, and Anne Bancroft (Mrs. Robinson of The Graduate fame) isn't around long enough to make much of an impression.
Hearbreakers is too light and harmless to really get fired up about, but that doesn't mean it's good either. Ultimately, it's a mediocre comedy that you'll likely forget about soon after viewing it.
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O.K., so there's a couple scenes in a bar, but nothing to inspire real revelry.
Jennifer Love Hewitt, Jason Lee, Sigourney Weaver, lots of sexual innuendos and some romance. Time to break some hearts?
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