Product Description

Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston star in the charming and unpredictable comedy The Break-Up. After two years together, Gary and Brooke's relationship seems to have taken a comical wrong turn on the way to happily ever after. Now the break-up is on, the lines have been drawn, and their honest feelings for each other are coming out. Get ready for an all-out war of the exes in this fun date movie that's hilarious and heartfelt.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5316 in DVD
• Brand: UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOME ENTERTAIN.
• Released on: 2006-10-17
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Dubbed in: French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds
• Running time: 107 minutes

Amazon.com
The combined star power of Vince Vaughn (Wedding Crashers, Swingers) and Jennifer Aniston (Bruce Almighty, The Good Girl) makes The Break-Up a high-profile romantic comedy. Gary (Vaughn) and Brooke (Aniston) find that their brittle relationship may have reached the breaking point--but neither is willing to give up the condo they co-own. As their fighting grows increasingly bitter, neither is sure if they're fighting to get out of the relationship or to save it. The Break-Up is an odd combination of realistic scenes that capture the harsh yet human ways that lovers can hurt each other, and broad comic scenes with a more farcical edge. Both types of scenes are entertaining on their own terms--the movie is never boring--but they don't fully mesh, and as a result it's hard to engage emotionally with either Gary or Brooke. But the sterling supporting cast--including Jon Favreau (Wimbledon), Cole Hauser (The Cave), Joey Lauren Adams (Chasing Amy), John Michael Higgins (A Mighty Wind), Justin Long (Dodgeball), Jason Bateman (Arrested Development), Vincent D'Onofrio (Happy Accidents), and the ever-delirious Judy Davis (Husbands and Wives)--give every scene they're in a boost of comic energy. An uneven but enjoyable movie that may suffer from viewers having overly high expectations due to Vaughn and Aniston's celebrity. --Bret Fetzer

On the DVD
If you ever want a complete Cliff's Notes interpretation of a movie, get Vince Vaughn to do the commentary. The actor (and in this case, producer and writer of the story) painstakingly explains the meaning behind every story decision, bit of dialogue, and sidelong glance in the movie ("See, he plays video games because it's comfortable for him--he loves to have control."). Jennifer Aniston joins him on the commentary, but has little to say but agree with his nonstop play-by-play. Gossipmongers looking for any extra chemistry indicating the Vaughniston romance will be disappointed, though Vaughn wisely makes no reference to his past dating history with co-star Joey Lauren Adams, who plays Aniston's best friend. Only director Peyton Reed, in a separate commentary track, makes an allusion: that he was hesitant about sending Aniston a script called The Break-Up in the middle of her divorce from Brad Pitt.

There's clearly a fondness for the city of Chicago (where the movie is set), the subject of a feature hosted by the Three Brothers (the fictional tourism business run by Vaughn's character). Castmates Cole Hauser and Jon Favreau also pitch in to showcase famous Chicago haunts. There's also a behind-the-scenes doc on the Tone Rangers, the a capella group formed by John Michael Higgins in the movie, a number of extended scenes and outtakes, and a silly "alternate ending" that thankfully, stayed alternate. But the best feature is the unedited footage of Vaughn and Favreau riffing various takes during a bar scene. Watching it can get tedious after the eighth go-around, but fans of the pair (who co-starred in Swingers and Made) will be fascinated watching them organically grow a hilarious scene through improvisation. --Ellen A. Kim

Customer Reviews

the break up...
I found myself relating to this movie. It was funny to me. The ending was great.

One couple, one condo, and one break up equals fighting without end. Boyfriend takes girl for granted, girlfriend says things she doesn't mean equals break up.

This is not a family movie because of language and some content.

Not a feel-good, laugh-riot comedy, but... interesting
A pretty entertaining, thoughtful movie if you ignore the bouncy/fun art on the DVD box and forget the bouncy/fun marketing campaign when this movie hit theaters a couple of years back. This is not a romantic comedy but rather a drama with some comedy sprinkled in, or- at best- a 50/50 mix of drama and comedy. If you go in knowing that, you won't be put off (as I was until I got into the right groove) by all the intense, shadowy lighting and the intense, pain-laced arguments. Once you know what you're getting, you'll enjoy the well-crafted intensity and the handful of funny moments, too (Jon Favreau is a riot as Vince Vaughn's protective friend).

The extra features are pretty illuminating, too. That's where we learn that the film's tone was unambiguously intentional on the part of Vince Vaughn and director Peyton Reed, who essentially said, "we hate those brightly lit, goofy romantic comedies that don't have a thread of true complexity in them!" Oh, and for an entertaining lesson in the art of film-making, be sure to watch the Vince Vaughn/Jon Favreau improv sessions, also among the special features. You'll see five or so improvised takes of a conversation in a bar between the two actors, while in character. It's fun to see what responses they come up with on the spur of the moment as each actor takes turns throwing openings and straight lines at the other. In the end, pieces of all the takes were edited together to produce the actual scene in the movie.

So, again, if you don't mind a little nuance and complexity in your comedic dramas (or your dramatic comedies, or whatever you want to call this mixed-up genre), give "The Break-Up" a try.

BETTER THAN I EXPECTED
This is a great rainy Saturday movie. I'm not a big fan of Jennifer Aniston because she is always, well, Jennifer Aniston. But that works for her. The same thing with Vince Vaughn - he's the big goof in comedies and eerily frightening in dramatic vehicles. But, together, they make a nice team with believeable chemistry. They are nicely supported by Jason Batement and Jon Favreau. Vincent D'Onofrio is a chameleon, barely recognizeable as the over-analytical detective in television's "Law & Order: Criminal Intent". The plot here is a lot less violent than "The War Of The Roses", but telling the same story in a more civilized and delightful manner. The ending was perfect, leaving the viewer with the sense that there's room for a sequel. Hopefully, that will never happen, but we can just follow Aniston's real-life workaholic/on-again-off-again romances/friendships/"friends-with-benefits"/booty calls/boyfriends-of-the-week/still trying to get over Brad and Angelina/ saga.