CHICAGO - MOVIE REVIEWS: THE BREAK-UP

The Break-Up can hardly catch a break from the critics. Most do find some parts of the movie entertaining and witty, but few think it's worth the price of admission. Rick Groen in the Toronto Globe and Mail begins his review of the movie this way: "Why one hand wants to clap: Because it's nice when a Hollywood movie boldly departs from the Hollywood formula. Why the other hand doesn't: Because it's a whole lot nicer when the departure works." Desson Thomson in the Washington Post writes similarly that the movie "may have its share of laughs, but isn't much fun." Several critics try to put their finger on the cause of the problem. "What the movie lacks is warmth, optimism and insight into human nature," writes Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times. A.O. Scott in the New York Times has a different take: "In defying some of the rigid conventions of its genre, it shows some admirable pluck and wit, but these would be more appreciated if the principal characters were worth caring about or if we could believe for a moment that they cared for each other," he writes. Lou Lumenick in the New York Post has yet another explanation: "They may be famously sleeping together in real life, but Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn demonstrate zero on-screen chemistry in The Break-Up."

02/06/2006