Box Office Guru Wrapup: Rock Defeats Heartbreak Kid To Defend Box Office Title

Ben Stiller's new comedy The Heartbreak Kid stumbled in its opening frame and forced the overall box office to plunge to the worst October weekend in eight years. Incumbent family comedy The Game Plan posted a strong sophomore hold and retained its position as North America's most popular film. But two other new releases did nothing to energize the multiplexes as the top ten films together grossed what just the top three pictures did a year ago on this same weekend. The calendar may say October but the dismal box office grosses make it seem like September never ended.Surprising industry watchers once again, Disney's The Game Plan held onto the number one spot for a second time grossing an estimated $16.3M for a slim 29% decline. That gave The Rock's first entry into the world of kid's movies a solid $42.8M in only ten days allowing the PG-rated comedy to already surpass the total grosses of his last two films Gridiron Gang ($38.4M) and Doom ($28M). All three pics were number one openers. Last weekend, many expected Game Plan to debut in second place behind The Kingdom while this weekend Heartbreak was widely seen as debuting on top. In both cases the quarterback daddy flick swiped the top spot and with little family competition in the weeks ahead, a trip to the $100M club could be in the works.

Disney is still benefiting from the fall season's shocking lack of product for families. For the third consecutive weekend, seven of the top ten films carried R ratings giving parents few other options for their children. The studio has virtually no foes to deal with until Jerry Seinfeld's animated pic Bee Movie hits theaters on November 2. Game Plan's second weekend drop was even smaller than the 40% decline that the studio's Vin Diesel family film The Pacifier experienced in March 2005 on its way to a stunning $113.1M tally. The Game Plan now looks certain to surpass the $90.5M of 2002's The Scorpion King to become The Rock's highest grossing film in a lead role.

The weekend's big disappointment came from the Ben Stiller-Farrelly brothers collaboration The Heartbreak Kid which debuted in second place with an estimated $14M from 3,229 theaters. Averaging a mediocre $4,345 per site, the R-rated film marked the first reteaming of the actor with the filmmakers since the 1998 sleeper smash There's Something About Mary which grossed a stunning $176.5M that year. Heartbreak was universally expected to open at number one and was thought to have the potential to capture at least $20M in opening weekend business for DreamWorks and Paramount. The budget was more than $60M, according to the studios.

For Stiller, Heartbreak's opening was half the size of the bows of his other recent comedies like Night at the Museum ($30.4M), Starsky and Hutch ($28.1M), and Along Came Polly ($27.7M). Those were PG or PG-13 films but the comedian was still expected to draw a large crowd this weekend. However for the Farrelly brothers, the performance was better than the $12.4M of their last pic Fever Pitch in 2005 and the $9.4M of 2003's Stuck on You. Reviews were mostly negative which is par for the course with these types of comedies.

The Heartbreak Kid put Stiller's box office power to the test and the results were discouraging. Most of the comedian's hits feature other big stars to help bring in a paying audience. This time Stiller was the only major name and audiences did not bite. In fact the launch was very similar to that of rival R-rated romantic comedy Good Luck Chuck which debuted to $13.7M and a better $5,227 average just two weeks ago. That film offered some star wattage from both genders with Dane Cook and Jessica Alba.

Universal's Middle East drama The Kingdom dropped 46% in its second weekend to an estimated $9.3M and placed third. The Jamie Foxx pic has taken in $31.4M in ten days and should find its way to $50-55M. Sony's action-horror sequel Resident Evil: Extinction fell 47% to an estimated $4.3M and pushed its 17-day cume to $43.5M.

Failing to find an audience on opening weekend was the fantasy adventure film The Seeker: The Dark is Rising which bowed to an estimated $3.7M from a very wide 3,141 theaters for a dismal $1,186 average. The PG-rated pic from the new venture between Fox and Walden Media targeted young boys but got nowhere at the box office. Seeker's debut was even worse than the $5M launch of Dragon Wars from just two weeks ago which went after the same audience. But thanks to a sluggish marketplace, Seeker's weak opening still landed the film in the top five even though its nearly $40M budget will take much time to recoup.

The Lionsgate comedy Good Luck Chuck grossed an estimated $3.5M, off 44%, for a $29.1M sum. The dance drama Feel the Noise delivered a seventh place debut with an estimated $3.4M from just 1,015 theaters. Averaging a mild $3,350 per site, the PG-13 film played to urban teens and came from the new Sony/BMG film division.

Source: www.cinema-pedia.com

Critical Consensus: Heartbreak Needs Discipline, Jane Worth Perusing, Seeker Reeks

This week at the movies, we've got honeymooners (The Heartbreak Kid, starring Ben Stiller and Michelle Monaghan), teenage heroes (The Seeker, starring Alexander Ludwig), bookworms in love (The Jane Austen Book Club, starring Maria Bello and Emily Blunt), and fledgling rappers (Feel the Noise, starring Zulay Henao). What do the critics have to say?

For Rhode Islanders, the work of Bobby and Peter Farrelly has long been a source of regional pride; their best work (There's Something About Mary, Dumb and Dumber) deftly combined taboo-busting, gross-out yucks with an undeniable sweetness. So it breaks the heart of this Ocean State native to report that their latest, The Heartbreak Kid, isn't generating all that much warmth with the critics. Based upon Elaine May's 1972 semi-classic, Kid stars Ben Stiller as a recently-married guy who quickly learns his new bride has much more baggage than he bargained for; on his honeymoon, he meets Miranda (Michelle Monhagan), who just might be the right gal for him. The pundits say that while the film does contain a smattering of raunchy laughs, they seemed shoehorned into the film, undercutting character development and any kind of message. If a compelling, magical fantasy world is something you're actively seeking, critics say you may want to avoid The Seeker. Based upon the Newberry Award-winning book series, The Seeker is the story of a 14-year-old who discovers he's the last in a long line of noble fighters dedicated to battling an evil force called the Dark. (Uh, so was Thomas Edison, like, the greatest of those warriors? Just asking.) Critics say The Seeker is several notches below the Harry Potter films in terms of emotional resonance and filmmaking quality, and underutilizes the talents of Ian McShane and Frances Conroy. At 25 percent on the Tomatometer, The Seeker may not be what you're looking for.

If your sensibilities run toward action flicks, you are likely prejudiced against light comedies about smart people and their relationship troubles. In the case of The Jane Austen Book Club, the critics say you might want to swallow your pride. The film tells the story of a group of six women whose book club assignment is for each to read one of Austen's novels; they soon find events in their lives eerily paralleling the texts they're reading. The critics say that what could have been a bland exercise in chick-flick-dom is elevated by an outstanding cast that includes Maria Bello, Emily Blunt, and Kathy Baker; each of the principals plays her part with intelligence and warmth.

Critics weren't allowed to come on and Feel the Noise, perhaps because it's either too wild, wild, wild for them to understand, or it isn't all that good. Either way, this tale of an aspiring rapper who finds love and redemption in the Puerto Rican Reggaeton scene was not screened before hitting theaters. You know the drill: Guess that Tomatometer!

Also opening this week in limited release: Lake of Fire, Tony Kaye's expressionist, evenhanded documentary about the abortion debate, is at 100 percent; Desert Bayou, a doc about the plight of African-American Hurricane Katrina refugees in Utah, is at 100 percent; My Kid Could Paint That, a portrait of an artist who's a very young girl (and may not be solely responsible for her highly-valued canvases), is at 100 percent; For the Bible Tells Me So, a doc that explores the Good Book's teachings on homosexuality, is at 89 percent; Kurt Cobain: About a Son, an impressionistic look at the life of the Nirvana frontman, is at 82 percent; Michael Clayton, starring George Clooney as a corporate whistleblower, is at 81 percent ; Finishing the Game, a mockumentary about an attempt to complete Bruce Lee's Game of Death after his untimely demise, is at 50 percent; and The Good Night, starring Gwyneth Paltrow in the tale of a romance that takes place in a man's dreams.

Source: www.cinema-pedia.com

Review: `Heartbreak Kid' Lacks Laughs

"The Heartbreak Kid" is funny enough compared to other recent movies by the Farrelly brothers, whose last four or five flicks have delivered only lackluster laughs. Yet Peter and Bobby Farrelly's take on the 1972 Neil Simon-Elaine May original is not nearly as funny as you'd like for a movie that reunites them with "There's Something About Mary" star Ben Stiller in another gross-out romance.

With five credited screenwriters, the Farrellys among them, and source material that includes a sharp script based on the great comic author Bruce Jay Friedman's short story, you just feel as though "The Heartbreak Kid" should be packed with guffaws.

From the mundane opening set-up between Stiller and his dad, Jerry Stiller, the movie starts drowsily and finds its humor only in occasional fits as the younger man discovers he's married badly then meets his dream woman on his honeymoon.

Playing a fictional father and son, the Stillers basically stand around on a San Francisco street jabbering about why the kid remains single and why, if he's can't find a bride, he at least doesn't take advantage of bachelorhood by playing the field.

It's an oddly talky and inanimate moment for the Farrellys, and the idle tone lingers through much of the movie.

Stiller's Eddie Cantrow is a 40-year-old stuck at the "singles table" at his former girlfriend's wedding the other singles turning out to be a bunch of kids who grill him about why he's there alone. (The exchange sets up an unlikely coincidental meeting later that the filmmakers use to push the story forward; it amounts to lazy storytelling.)

Eddie then meets the beautiful, vivacious Lila (Malin Akerman), who seems too good to be true as they begin a whirlwind romance.

Of course, she is too good to be true. After marrying Lila on a whim and heading south for a honeymoon in Mexico, Eddie almost immediately learns they're a mismatch.

She's into rough, contortionist sex, she's disgustingly unabashed in the bathroom, she sings along perkily to grating pop songs, she's got a deviated septum that leads to a string of redundant nasal gags.

Granted, Eddie and Lila only knew each other for six weeks before marrying, but it's far too convenient that he never gets a whiff of their glaring incompatibility. The way the Farrellys gloss over Eddie and Lila's courtship also is lazy storytelling.

At the Mexican resort, Eddie encounters the homespun angel Miranda (Michelle Monaghan), who's there with her family to celebrate an aunt and uncle's renewal of wedding vows.

Eddie and Miranda connect, and he realizes in a day or two that she's the woman for him. (More lazy storytelling? You be the judge.)

The Farrellys raunch up the May-Simon story and dispense with the original's Jewish-goyim clash that had honeymooning Charles Grodin falling for WASP-ish Cybill Shepherd. That angle might have seemed quaint and dated today.

There are a few genuinely amusing sight gags, though nothing nearly as memorable as Cameron Diaz's hair-gel moment in "There's Something About Mary."

Akerman's Lila often is eerily reminiscent of Diaz's Mary, down to the sweet, slightly sibilant voice and frisky demeanor.

Monaghan's an absolute sweetheart, but she has the easier task, since her character's written that way. Akerman steals the show by making Lila both endearing and irritating at the same time.

Carlos Mencia as a lovably coarse resort employee and Rob Corddry as Eddie's married buddy liven up a few scenes.

It's harder to sympathize with Stiller here than it was in "There's Something About Mary." Stiller's a stiff if he doesn't have good dialogue, and he's often boring in "The Heartbreak Kid." To top it off, his character's more of a jerk than usual, so it's hard to care whether or not he ends up with the right woman.

In fact, there's far more empathy to be had with both Miranda and Lila than the man who tries to juggle a honeymoon with the two of them.

The movie's contrived ending also is a letdown, but there's a coda offering a cute cameo that "Desperate Housewives" fans especially will enjoy.

"The Heartbreak Kid," a DreamWorks-Paramount release, is rated R for strong sexual content, crude humor, language, and a scene of drug use involving a minor. Running time: 115 minutes. Two stars out of four.

Source: www.cinema-pedia.com