Heartbreakers (2001)

Heartbreakers (2001)

6/10

Starring

Sigourney Weaver

Jennifer Love Hewitt

Ray Liotta

Jason Lee

Gene Hackman

 

Directed by David Mirkin

 

When I was younger, I was a huge fan of Sigourney Weaver and Jennifer Love Hewitt, so when this movie was released, I had to go see it. Heartbreakers is a crime romantic comedy about a mother-and-daughter duo who con men out of their money. The strength of the movie isn’t in the cons themselves, because they aren’t elaborate, and the cons rely heavily on the men being promiscuous. The real strength is in the comedy and how the ladies handle themselves in some really sticky situations. The acting performances of the cast make it a fun movie to watch.

The big downer in the movie is its length. I feel like it dragged on a bit when it could have been simpler.

In this movie, we see Max (Weaver) getting married to Dean (Ray Liotta). The whole marriage ceremony seems weird, but when it’s time for the honeymoon sex, Max finds a way to avoid it. A now-horny Dean goes to work the next day and is seduced by his secretary. Max walks into the office and catches them in an awkward position. A divorce follows, with Max walking away with tens of thousands of dollars and a car.

Dean is devastated and feels horrible. He truly loved Max and vows to hunt her down. We later discover that the secretary is Paige (Hewitt), Max’s daughter, and Dean had been conned.

Paige wants to branch out on her own and stop living in her mother’s shadow, but Max finds a way to make sure that doesn’t happen. So, they decide to do one last con, with Max targeting William B. Tensy (Gene Hackman). Paige, on the other hand, tries to do one on her own, but her lack of experience leads her into the arms of bar owner Jack (Jason Lee). No matter how hard she tries, she keeps running into him, and before long, feelings start to develop.

Now Max knows about Paige’s game and wants her to stop. Dean is still on Max’s tail, and the con on the old man Tensy isn’t going as planned. How they all manage to deal with everything is what watching this movie is all about.

The movie wasn’t much of a commercial success and had numerous mixed reviews, but I liked it. If you remove the length, I think it’s a nice film to watch anytime, so I recommend you see it if you haven’t.