Synopsis
Three days into his Miami honeymoon with needy and unsophisticated Lila, Lenny meets tall, blonde Kelly. This confirms his fear that he has made a serious mistake and he decides he wants Kelly instead.
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Cast
- Charles GrodinLenny Cantrow
- Cybill ShepherdKelly Corcoran
- Jeannie BerlinLila Kolodny
- Audra LindleyMrs. Corcoran
- Eddie AlbertDuane Corcoran
- Mitchell JasonCousin Ralph
- William PrinceColorado Man
- Augusta DabneyColorado Woman
- Doris RobertsMrs. Cantrow
- Jack HausmanMr. Kolodny
Recommendations
- 88
Chicago Sun-Times
It's a comedy, but there's more in it than that; it's a movie about the ways we pursue, possess, and consume each other as sad commodities. - 88
LarsenOnFilm
The Heartbreak Kid is a war of the sexes comedy that leaves no side unscathed, thanks largely to the combined sensibilities of screenwriter Neil Simon and director Elaine May. - 80
The A.V. Club
Not especially gag-driven, May's deadpan style clears the way for some remarkable performances by Jeannie Berlin, Eddie Albert, and especially Grodin, who has to remain likable even while doing stupid, mean things. - 80
The New York Times
The Heartbreak Kid occasionally goes for laughs without shame (which is what has always bothered me about Simon's brand of New York comedy), but behind the laughs there is, for a change, a real understanding of character — which is something that I suspect, can be attribued to Miss May. - 70
The New Yorker
May directs with bristling restraint: the camera runs at length, keeping the characters trapped in the excruciating moment, and, with the central trio of typecast actors tightly held on this side of parody, the humor oscillates between sour comedy and droll tragedy. - 70
Variety
Elaine May’s deft direction catches all the possibilities of young romance and its tribulations in light strokes and cleverly accents characterization of the various principals. - 70
The New Yorker
[May] has a knack for defusing the pain without killing the joke. - 70
Village Voice
May's second feature is a funny and sometimes side-splitting film whose whole never approaches the success of its best moments in which the two levels of romantic fantasy and satire are reconciled. [28 Dec 1972, p.53]
