This film had potential. The first half was funny. The second half suddenly shifted from comedy to drama. The result was a waste of two hours. There was no chemistry between Vince and Jennifer on screen, so it's not surprising that their off-screen romance fizzled, too. The movie was a cliché-ridden stench. Vince Vaughn had the typical "fun" job you see in all the chick flicks. He spoke on a microphone to tourists on a tour bus. Jennifer Aniston's job was to stand around in an art gallery. Wow. Several eccentric supporting characters could have been developed, but the movie shifted to Vince and Jen. Jennifer Aniston seemed to spend the entire film in humorless cross-your-arms-over your-chest negative body language mode while pursing her lips. Why is her skin so orange? She looks like a Chee-to wearing a wig. The film ended on an ambiguous note, further reinforcing the fact that you wasted your time.

I didn't think this was a terrible movie, it just wasn't that great either. Vince Vaughan and Jennifer Anisten act well, and have decent chemistry. There is also a good music score, and some nice scenes towards the beginning. And towards the end, the film does manage to maintain your interest, and leaves you asking questions like how is it going to end. However, there are many elements that don't quite gel. One is the rather disjointed script, there were valiant attempts at humour, but instead of the hilarious rolling- about- on- the- floor sort of film, the humour just seemed to come in occasional splashes. Another problem was the direction, a bit too leisurely and uneven, also I did think some parts were underdeveloped, like there was a lot about Gary's job, but not so much of Brooke's. The pace was also a tad slow in places. Overall, could have been better with a more focused script, but some good performances and nice music, do make it at least watchable. 4.5/10 Bethany Cox

"The Break-Up" is an American English-language film from 2006, so this one had its 10th anniversary last year. It was directed by Peyton Reed, who was in the headlines not too long ago thanks to the new Ant-Man movie. The script comes from Jeremy Garelick and Jay Lavender and for both of them, this 100-minute film is probably still their most known work. Which really says nothing positive in their favor. The reason for that is that this film we have here is the epitome of a forgettable romantic comedy. Most of the jokes aren't working at all and I personally found it difficult honestly to like any of the two protagonists, let alone cheer for them. It also proves than Vince Vaughn is not lead actor material at all and that Jennifer Aniston, no matter how much of a sweetheart and darling she may be, is no lead actress material either. At least if we go by 2006 standards. I have not seen her more recent work like the one film that she almost got Oscar-nominated for.

Anyway, the story here is about a couple on the verge of split-up throughout the entire film and they are basically only still somewhat together because neither wants to give up on their amazing apartment. So what is the solution? Both give up on it. Doesn't make any sense to be honest. Besides, the comedy relies on stuff like Aniston's character running around naked after they basically split up already to get him horny and maybe agree to leave the house to get away from his ex provoking him, but not letting him get any. Or him playing video games for hours with her new potential boyfriends. It's just not entertaining. Quality actors like Davis, D'Onofrio and Bateman (actually all better than the leads) are wasted for pointless supporting characters that add nothing to the story, perhaps in a desperate attempt by the filmmakers to prove to us that Aniston and Vaughn are on a higher level. They may be bigger names, but they just don't have the range. Anyway, with the ending they probably tried to be creative and actually make a dramatic impact also with them actually splitting up as one could have thought throughout the entire film that they may get together again. But of course, they weren't bold enough to really go for it all and instead include an uninspired fake happy ending in which the romantically hopeless (I am not talking actual romantics, but just the desperate) can think that they are really getting back together in fact. Of course these are the ones who also consider Jennifer Aniston one of the best actresses from her generation. Four stars out of ten is still extremely generous for this really bad film. I recommend to stay far far away.