by Yazmin Ghonaim

HEARTBREAKERS David Mirkin (2001) Heartbreakers, directed by David Mirkin (Romy and Michele's High School Reunion) details the risky moves of a mother-daughter team of con artists in search of gullible, wealthy men. Marriage after marriage, the attractive Max (Sigourney Weaver) has managed to amass enough wealth to keep up appearances, promoting herself as an aristocratic, well-dressed woman who welcomes the opportunity of finding true love. In reality, Max has developed an effective scheme of entrapment, using her coquettish and unrestrained young daughter Page (Jennifer Love Hewitt) as bait for her prospects. After an unusually disappointing wedding night with his beloved new bride Max, Dean Cumanno (Ray Liotta: Hannibal) falls victim to the pair, when he fails to resist the advances of his sexy secretary, proving his disposition to cheat on his new wife. Oblivious to the fact that the lovely secretary is his wife's daughter playing her part of the scheme, Dean agrees to a divorce and a generous settlement. However, Max's risky business is jeopardized when she is summoned by the IRS to explain her undeclared income; a reality which pushes Max and Page to one final, grand scheme. Soon, millionaire WiIlliam B. Tensy (Gene Hackman) promises to be the next perfect solution, while Page jeopardizes a seemingly perfect scheme when she meets Jack (Jason Lee: Almost Famous), a young bar-owner who inspires her to question her amoral lifestyle. Heartbreakers builds comic situations around the characters' mischievous plotting yet rarely delivers laughable resolutions to their ensuing dilemmas. Heartbreakers strategically avoids offering an "honest" portrayal of its female characters as women who basically prostitute themselves, given that they always manage to "escape" from their aroused subjects prior to having sex with them. While softening the conniving character of the characters and offering a light, comedic representation of their actions, this choice helps establish the characters' ability to tease men. Some suspense results when Max and Page overestimate their abilities and find themselves too close to being caught, thus risking their safety, their freedom, or at the very least, their dignity. However, Heartbreakers is generally short of wit and ingenuity, which deprives the film of a genuinely amusing storyline. Rather, Heartbreakers relies too much on its characters' main recourse --their physical appearance (low-cut tops, tight dresses and short skirts)-- for their assault on men. Always aggressive and often vulgar, the not-so-tantalizing pair of "Heartbreakers" do not quite merit their title.		DVD Music Books Search by keywords:
Outstanding Features: Acting Heartbreakers Movie Review © 2001 Cinephiles - All rights reserved Photo © 2001 MGM