Review: Heartbreakers (2001)

If I were to give you a list of movies that continue to make me laugh, even after I've seen them a dozen times, that list would be short. Very short. Let me think... Well, there's Clue (1985), ummmm.... Home Alone 2 (1992), The First Wives Club (1996), Date Night (2010)... All very mature choices, indeed. To tell you the truth, I generally find that, during my first viewing of a film, there is at least one laugh out loud moment (And, boy do I take advantage of them!). The question is, will that, or those, funny moment(s) still make me laugh 12 views from now? The answer is usually no. However, with the occasional film, that answer can sometimes be a yes, and Heartbreakers is one of those films (Another mature choice...).

Love or Money? Well, if you were to ask Max Conners, her answer would most certainly be money. After a heartbreak early in life, Max decided that there was just no point to love... But she had to make money somehow. Together with her daughter, Paige, the women spend their time scheming men out of their fortunes by having them fall in love with Max, marry Max, and then have Paige seduce them. The result? A lump sum everytime. But, after years of playing this game, Paige wants to go it on her own, much to her other's dismay. With no other option, Max agress to let Paige go after she helps her with one last scam.

"There's no love. It's the trick of the brain. It's the combination of chemicals and hormones."

This movie was a lot better than I originally thought it was going to be. With the exception of Ray Liotta, who is one of my favourite modern actors, the cast didn't exactly appeal to me, and neither did the story. The basic plot of people conning other people is used a lot in the movies, and I'm sure the premise of this film has been used before. But, to my surprise, I really took to this film.

"Love is pain! Life is pain. You can't protect anybody from it, it's always gonna get you. But sometimes, life could also be good..."

As I stated earlier, most of the cast arn't exactly what I would call ideal. I usually can't stand Jennifer Love Hewitt, but she was ok in this movie. She didn't over act, and she held her own against the rest of the cast. Job well done. Gene Hackman was fine as William Tensey, but this wasn't my favourite performance of his. Sigourney Weaver was very funny as Max. She should consider doing comedy more often, as should Liotta. His performance was by far the funniest, and his scenes are some of the best in the film. But I do generally love seeing him on screen, so there may be a slight bias there.

Heartbreakers, if not the greatest film ever made, is good at doing one thing: making me laugh. 7/10

Triva: The filmmakers original ideal cast? Jennifer Aniston as Paige and Cher as Max.