The Break-Up

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Break-Up
Promotional poster The Break-Up
Directed by	Peyton Reed
Produced by	Stuart M. Besser Vince Vaughn
Written by	Vince Vaughn Jeremy Garelick Jay Lavender
Starring	Vince Vaughn Jennifer Aniston Joey Lauren Adams Jon Favreau Vincent D'Onofrio
Music by	Jon Brion
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	June 2, 2006 (USA)
Running time	90 min
Language	English
IMDb profile

The Break-Up is a Universal Pictures film that was released on June 2, 2006. The Break-Up stars Vince Vaughn, Jennifer Aniston, Joey Lauren Adams, Jon Favreau, Ann-Margret, Vincent D'Onofrio, Cole Hauser, Jason Bateman, Justin Long and Judy Davis. It was written by Jay Lavender and Jeremy Garelick.

[edit] Plot

A bickering couple (Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston) live in a wonderful condo in Chicago. Both driven in their careers with Gary (Vaughn), an intensely proud Pole, running a thriving city tour business with his brothers (Vincent D'Onofrio and Cole Hauser), while Brooke (Aniston) works as a representative for her boss' (Judy Davis) art gallery. Early in the movie, their conflicts cause them to separate after a bitter argument. Their conflicts are largely due to Gary's immaturity; and, it seems as if differences, not only in Brooke's and Gary's individual personalities, but also in their social backgrounds, contributes to the division that becomes apparent between them. Brooke has applied Feng Shui books from her mother in the interior design of her and Gary's condo; her brother Richard is part of an a cappella group called The Tone Rangers; her friend Addie uses phrases of advice such as "Remember, we're always owning our actions, right? And we're always healthy with it, yes?"; and Brooke bemoans how many times she has dropped "hints about the ballet" to Gary, but to no avail. By contrast, Gary likes action-oriented video games, is an avid Chicago Cubs fan, and wants a pool table in the condo even though Brooke thinks a pool table would be more appropriate in a larger home. Although Gary believes he's fighting for the condo, it's Brooke who is fighting for their relationship to stay alive. However, the condo ends up becoming the subject of a war in which both try to outwit and outdo each other through blind dates, obnoxious parties and broken promises. In the end, they agree to separate, both giving up the condo, selling it, each taking their share of the money from its sale, and moving on with their separate lives; but after Brooke and Gary have learned, through a friend who is their real-estate agent, that a buyer has been found for their condo and that they have two weeks to move out, Brooke, explaining to Gary that "a while ago" she got two tickets to a concert that she's going to see that night by the Old 97's, and asks Gary if he wants to meet her there, Gary says, Sure. But that night when she attends the concert, he doesn't show up. When later that night he encounters her crying in the condo, they both appear even more aware of the seriousness of their conflict than either was before: in spite of a subsequent effort by Gary to reach out to Brooke by preparing a surprise dinner in the condo for the two of them, their breakup has apparently become inevitable at this point. Gary, realizing what he has lost (and having matured a bit) returns to his business with new vigor while Brooke travels the world, eventually finding her way back to Chicago. At the end of the movie, they meet again by chance on the streets of Chicago. After some awkward but friendly catching up they part ways, but catch each other glancing over their shoulders and share a smile.

[edit] Responses

• The original ending didn't go down well with test audience which Aniston fans found upsetting. As a result Universal Studios had to re-shoot. According to the Chicago Tribune: "the first ending made basically the same point in a slightly different way".

• Criticism for the movie comes from a scene where Jennifer Aniston appears nude, with most of her body being blocked by parts of Vince. However, there is one brief shot of her blurry fully nude buttocks that many have criticized as being a ploy to get people to come see the movie.[1]

[edit] Box Office

The romance/comedy film has proven to be very successful grossing $128 million world-wide. It is currently the 12th highest-grossing film of 2006. It is also at #245 in the All Time American Box Office. It is the 298th highest grossing film of all-time (world-wide). It is the 16th highest grossing romantic/comedy in America. The Break-Up is also the 9th highest grossing movie world-wide (2006). The Break-Up has grossed over $1 million in 16 countries (if the United States, Australia , and UK was included it would total 19).

It has grossed a total of $118,703,275 in the American box-office.

It has grossed a total of $9,754,475 in Australia.

It has grossed a total of $19,133,146 in the UK.

Nacho Libre was originally scheduled for release the same date as this film, but was delayed, and instead, opened on June 16, 2006 in the USA.

[edit] Music

• The first song selection, coupled with snapshots of the then-happy couple, was Queen's "You're My Best Friend." Also featured in the film are the songs "Story of My Life" by Social Distortion, "Boogie Nights" by Heatwave, "You Oughta Know" by Alanis Morissette, "Time Bomb" by the Old 97's, and Queen's "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" sung by Dwight Yoakam. The closing song, which may portend the future of their relationship, is Johnny Nash's, "I Can See Clearly Now", a hit of 1972. In the trailer is another song by Social Distortion - "Ball and Chain."

• One of the film's scenes is set at a concert performed by alternative country band, Old 97's in Chicago's Riviera Theater.

• The song "Timebomb" by the Old 97's was also featured in the movie Clay Pigeons, which also starred Vince Vaughn.

• The Tone Rangers is the name of an actual a cappella group in Washington D.C., who are thanked in the credits. -- Official site

[edit] Trivia

• In some scenes, Gary plays video games on his PlayStation 2. The list of games he plays includes Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Fight Night: Round 3, and likely the 2006 edition of Madden NFL.
• Vince Vaughn gained 26 pounds for the role. However, the intentions of this are not certain, as Vaughn was reported to have gained weight as a result of his recent decision to quit smoking.
• Brad Ausmus, Todd Hollandsworth, Rickie Weeks, and Derrek Lee are a few of the actual Major League Baseball players seen throughout the movie at Wrigley Field or on Gary's television.
• In the scene where Gary is playing a game on his PlayStation 2 with Brooke's date, Jennifer Aniston's character can be seen reading a magazine with Angelina Jolie's face on the cover. At the time, Aniston had just divorced Brad Pitt who left her for Angelina Jolie.
• Jennifer Aniston wore Generra Jeans throughout the film.
• Gary talks about getting hopped up and making bad decisions on the Three Brothers boat. In Wedding Crashers, Vince Vaughn's character Jeremy Gray says, in a rant about blind dates, that he's just wondering if he and his date will get hopped up enough to make some bad decisions. In both The Break-Up and Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, Vaughn's character tells a child that their parent(s) do not really love them.
• After Brooke mentions that she noticed Gary lost weight, Gary says to her that he's "one of those people who's thin but doesn't have a muscle on their body." This is said by Vaughn during a bonus feature on the Dodgeball DVD.
• In the club, Lupus sarcastically asks Gary if he will be arrested for "being awesome." In a deleted scene from Old School, Vince Vaughn asks Luke Wilson the same thing.
• Vince Vaughn acted with Jennifer Aniston's ex-husband, Brad Pitt, in Mr & Mrs Smith, the year before this movie was released.
• Peter Billingsley who played Andrew was Ralphie in the movie A Christmas Story.
• Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau also starred in the movie Swingers, Made, and Rudy together.
• This is the fourth time Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau have been in a movie together (the first in Swingers, the second in Made. Although in the previous films Favreau played the straight guy while in this film Vaughn is the straight man while Favreau offers to break into Aniston's e-mail and tells Vaughn he will "take care of" her new boyfriend.

[edit] Notes

Note 1: Box Office Gross- Boxofficemojo.com

[edit] External links

• The Break-Up Official Website
• The Break-Up at the Internet Movie Database
• The Break-Up at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Breakup Preview