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Heartbreakers

Movie Heartbreakers Director David Mirkin Producer John Davis Cast Sigourney Weaver, Jennifer Love Hewitt

By Ad-Lib Talk about odd pairing! No we are not talking about Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, we are talking about the pairing of Alien babe Sigourney Weaver and Jennifer Love Hewitt (whose acting credits are better left untold). Sigourney can be described as in the 11th hour of her career in Hollywood. She is visibly old and the roles just don’t seem to match up with her anymore. But hold on! That’s just Cover on the Book because despite all the obvious disadvantages, Heartbreakers is a pretty entertaining movie. Max (Sigourney Weaver) and Page Conners (Jennifer Love Hewitt) are a mother and daughter con team. The modus operandi is simple and imaginative; Max lures men into marrying her and Page is supposed to be the spot of infidelity for Max’s husband. Max finds her husbands in compromising situations and then rakes out a hefty divorce settlement. This operation is carried out on one of the husbands named, Dean Cumanno (Ray Liotta), successfully. Page then plans on moving out and going solo but a dubious official from the IRS stalls them at the bank and relives them of Dean’s loot from the divorce settlement. This means that Page and Max still have to stick together and do one more job. They head to Palm Beach and find an Old Tobacco Baron William B. Tensy (Gene Hackman). Max decides that William is going to be her prey. Page, through a series of hilarious circumstances, gets to meet Jack Withrowe (Jason Lee) a local bar owner who happens to be sitting on a very valuable piece of land. Page starts to get romantically involved despite her mother’s warnings but yet she tries to fight her feelings away. Back to Tensy, he finally proposes to Max but dies as he tries to consummate his love. In the confusion, Dean makes a comeback- still smitten by Max. Eventually Dean does find out that he was conned and they work on paying him back. This time Page has to end up marrying Jack and Max becomes the seductress. The plan is successful, to Page’s amazement, but Jack had to be drugged into a compromising position. The divorce proceedings commence and a settlement is made but Max’s conscience kicks in Page goes back to Jack. Predictably Dean and Max team up after that. Director David Mirkin has done a pretty good job of making sure that you laugh throughout the movie and at no point in the movie do you ever feel bored. Performances are gelled in well for the characters. But I do feel that Jennifer Love Hewitt’s sole purpose was to bare her breasts and nothing else. Sigourney Weaver looks too old now and her acting talents are not at full thrust. Gene Hackman is pure decoration but Ray Liotta is one character that will surprise you with his interpretation of the events that unfold before him. The movie has some adult content, so parents beware. Overall a superb comedy, it is a good movie to watch preferably at home than in the theatre but enjoyable either way. Heartbreakers earns a 7 out of 10 on my scale.