Resistance is Phutile

The Break Up.

Sat down with my good lady last night and watched The Break Up. Perhaps a risky move when all I wanted to do was relax and enjoy the only night off I've got this week. See, watching somebody on screen point out all the little things that happen in relationships can easily lead to your other half being reminded of a selection of your past crimes.

Still, the gambled paid off. Needless argument-archaeology was kept to a minimum and overall the film was reasonable. Entertaining enough, anyway. The only snag was the realisation that we'd just committed ourselves to a couple of hours of watching people argue. Let's face it, it's no fun sitting with a couple whose seething (temporary or otherwise) contempt for each other has stubbed out any regard for the comfort of those around them. I almost felt envious of Gary and Brooke's friends who only had to endure the rows for the length of the scenes they were involved in.

The film does feel a little bit like missed opportunity. Despite some well observed insights into the murky world of petty grudges and volcanic disagreements into which many relationships descend, there was no real reason to care about what happens. Aniston and Vaughn are nice enough, but a tad bland and unbelievable. The comic figures thrown in to inject some humour into the 105 minute argument were almost irritatingly perfunctory, although Gary's best friend's obsession with murder and violent revenge made me chuckle.

Brooke's ridiculous gay, musically incapable, martial artist of a brother was basically Ned Flanders with a black belt and in the final analysis just another notch on the bedpost of Hollywood's affair with the good-for-laughs homo.

Did I start this post by saying the film was ok?

Well, if you're expecting some kind of thought provoking analysis of the modern day relationship you'll probably be disappointed. But I wasn't. It was just something to switch on so that I could switch off, really, and in that task it fared pretty well.



I feel it's a bit odd ignoring the world of current affairs in my recent posts, particularly in the light of what's happening in the ME. But right now time is short for me as I work long days and spend the other hours looking for better employment. As things are, I don't really want to blurt out some ultimately ill-thought out remarks about matters of such gravity in the ten or twenty minutes I get to focus on RIP in the mornings. Which is not to say I fancy moving into the world of film critique, so Johnathon Ross can relax a while yet.

posted by Phu @ 11:47 am