The original Heartbreak Kid is a much different movie than it's 2007 Farrely Brothers remake. The plots are very similar but rather than the constant (and very hit or miss) gross-out humor the Farrely's slapped on the screen, the 1972 version is an early flagbearer in the awkward type of humor that would be done to perfection in TV shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm and the British Office. Charles Grodin plays a schmucky, Jewish, dick about as good as anyone and Cybill Sheppherd is perfect as his beautiful, bitchy, WASP dream woman. Jeannie Berlin and Eddie Albert both earned Academy Award nominations for their roles as Grodin's discarded new wife and Sheppherds hard-ass father. There ultimately are a few too many similarities to The Graduate (especially the ending) but I greatly prefer the original to the remake.
Rating: 4
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