Product Details

• Actors: Charles Grodin, Sybill Shepherd, Jeannie Berlin, Audra Lindley, Eddie Albert
• Directors: Elaine May
• Producers: Edgar J. Scherick
• Format: NTSC, Color, Full Screen
• Language: English
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Media Home Entertainment, Inc.
• Run Time: 106 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000J0JMDC
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #197,461 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Nominated for two Academy Awards....Another Neil Simon comedy masterpiece! Lenny Cantrow, an ambitious 27-year-old sporting goods salesman meets a girl named Lila Koldny in a Manhattan singles bar. Following a brief courtship, Lenny proposes marriage. On their honeymoon in Florida, he discovers his wife's maddening idiosyncracies and decides he's made a mistake. Enter Kelly Corcoran (Cybill Shepherd), a beautiful college student vacationing with her wealthy parents. Lenny is head over heels and is sure that this is the real thing. There is only one small complication...he is a newlywed! Basing his film on the short story, "A Change of Plan," by Bruce Jay Freidman, producer Edgar J. Scherick selected Neil Simon to write the screen play. Simon's Broadway credits include "Barefoot in the Park," "Plaza Suite," and "The Odd Couple." Director Elaine May's daughter, Jeannie Berlin, won the N.Y. Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance here, with Eddie Albert capturing an Oscar for his best supporting role.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great American Comedy, February 14, 2002

By 

"skipmccoy" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Heartbreak Kid (DVD)

Thankfully, Anchor Bay(Genuises!!!) has re-issued this classic comedy with a nice widescreen transfer. It's a fantastic film and deserves a nice dvd. Though the dvd has little in the way of extras, I was still pleased as it one of my favorite films. I rank it right up there with great American comedies like ANNIE HALL. It's certainly the darkest stuff that Neil Simon's ever had a hand in. Grodin, Berlin, Albert and Shepherd-they're all excellent here. A great film from a great female directorial voice(Elaine May-who also directed A NEW LEAF with Walter Matthau-why is there no dvd for that film yet!). At a low list price, this film is impossible to pass up on dvd!

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "There is no deceit in the cauliflower.", February 27, 2003

By 

GLBT (Illinois) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Heartbreak Kid (DVD)

Charles Grodin is hilarious (as are his sideburns) and pathetic as a man who, while on his honeymoon, falls in love with another woman. He decides to prove himself to Cybil Shepard (the woman he's fallen in love with) and her father (rich, conservative, loathes Grodin) by leaving his wife in mid-honeymoon and following Cybil and her family back to Minnesota and trying to win her hand in marriage.

Classic lines include: "Don't... don't do that, honey. Don't ever put a Milky Way in someone's mouth when they don't want it." and "There is no deceit in the cauliflower."

One thing I found surprising about this movie is that Charles Grodin's character isn't really all that likable. For that matter, pretty much everyone in this film is somewhat morally bankrupt. Not that that's a bad thing... it just surprised me because the screenplay is by Neil Simon, whose stuff tends to be a bit lighter.

All in all, this is definitely worth seeking out... it'll take you back to the days when movie-makers actually knew how to make a comedy that was FUNNY...

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Qualified Winner, December 2, 2000

By 

dev1 (Baltimore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Heartbreak Kid [VHS] (VHS Tape)

On the surface, The Heartbreak Kid is a small movie with a simple plot. Lenny (Charles Grodin) dumps his wife (Lila played by Jeannie Berlin) of five days to pursue a beautiful coed (Kelly played by Cybill Shepherd). Standing between Lenny and Kelly is Kelly's possessive father (Mr. Corcoran). Character portrayal is almost perfect. Charles Grodin is convincing as the self-centered and reckless Lenny. Finding an actress more capable of playing the naive and boy-teasing Kelly (Cybill Shepherd) would have been very difficult. Eddie Albert (Mr. Corcoran) stands like a brick wall between Lenny and his conquest (Kelly).

More interesting than the character portrayal and story line are the underlying motives of the characters, and the consequences of their actions. Lenny abandons his wife (Lila), and leaves her brokenhearted. He is headstrong and determined, but also callous and foolish. Kelly's affection for Lenny is quite immature: she see's him as a strong father figure although he is actually egotistical and, quit frankly, short-sighted. The most mature and rational character in the film is Mr. Corcoran. The Heartbreak Kid works as a lighthearted love story; that is, cute boy wins cute girl despite their social, economic and religious differences. Thankfully, The Heartbreak Kid doesn't attempt to promote any moral themes. If it did, the film would fail. The viewer could not be satisfied with the nice cute boy wins nice cute girl conclusion because the boy (Lenny) cares for no one except himself. In summary, The Heartbreak Kid is a qualified winner with just one caveat: don't think too much.