The Heartbreak Kid (1972 film)
| The Heartbreak Kid | |
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.jpg) Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Elaine May |
| Produced by | Edgar J. Scherick |
| Written by | Neil Simon Bruce Jay Friedman (story) |
| Starring | Charles Grodin Cybill Shepherd Jeannie Berlin Eddie Albert Audra Lindley |
| Cinematography | Owen Roizman |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
| Release date(s) | December 17, 1972 |
| Running time | 106 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $5,600,000 (US/ Canada rentals)[1] |
The Heartbreak Kid is a 1972 dark romantic comedy film directed by Elaine May, written by Neil Simon, and starring Charles Grodin, Jeannie Berlin, Eddie Albert, Audra Lindley, Doris Roberts and Cybill Shepherd. It is based on the short story "A Change of Plan", written by Bruce Jay Friedman.
Jeannie Berlin was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, and Eddie Albert was nominated for Best Supporting Actor.
It is #91 on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs, a list of the funniest American movies ever made.
It was remade in 2007 as The Heartbreak Kid starring Ben Stiller and Malin Åkerman.
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Plot and theme [edit]
A black comedy examination of love and hypocrisy, the satire begins with the New York City traditional Jewish marriage of emotionally-shallow, self-absorbed, "nebbish"-man-boy, Lenny Cantrow, a sporting goods salesman (Charles Grodin). While on honeymoon at the Doral Hotel on Miami Beach, he meets and pursues a tall, blonde, Midwestern, seductively bitchy, but sarcastically witty and gorgeous, student named Kelly Corcoran (Cybill Shepherd). His unsophisticated and emotionally-needy bride, Lila (Jeannie Berlin, daughter of director, Elaine May), refuses to use sunscreen and consequently develops a severe sunburn, which quarantines her in their hotel room. Lenny begins a rendezvous with Kelly, lying to his wife as to his whereabouts. Lenny recklessly and impulsively decides to dump Lila, ending his ephemeral marriage, in order to pursue unloving Kelly, his false ideal, and ultimate fantasy shiksa-goddess. (The girl he was "waiting for all of his life". He just "timed it wrong".) She is attending college in Minnesota, where her somewhat bigoted, suspicious and overly-protective, hostile father (Eddie Albert) is a relentless obstacle.
Cast [edit]
- Charles Grodin as Lenny Cantrow
- Cybill Shepherd as Kelly Corcoran
- Jeannie Berlin as Lila Kolodny
- Audra Lindley as Mrs. Corcoran
- Eddie Albert as Mr. Corcoran
- Doris Roberts as Mrs. Cantrow
Awards and honors [edit]
American Film Institute recognition
- 2000: AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs #91
References [edit]
- ^ "Big Rental Films of 1973", Variety, 9 January 1974 p 19
External links [edit]
- 1972 Original full feature length film
- The Heartbreak Kid at the Internet Movie Database
- The Heartbreak Kid at AllRovi
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