Heartbreakers

3/4

Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Gene Hackman, Jason Lee, Ray Liotta, Anne Bancroft

Rated PG-13 for Sex-Related Content Including Dialogue

"Heartbreakers" is a smart and clever comedy about two con artists who would give James Dobson something to rant about.  If he's so obsessed with protecting the sanctity of marriage, he's got a lot on his hands with these two.

Max (Weaver) and Paige (Hewitt) are a mother-daughter team who make boatloads of money by conning rich men.  Max seduces the would-be Mr. Right into marrying her after a brief courtship, and after they are married, Paige goes in to seduce the new groom.  In walks Max, who then gets boatloads of alimony.  Paige wants to go out on her own, which Max disagrees with.  But they're going to have to work together to pull off one last score in order to pay back taxes to the IRS.  Now they must work quickly to scam tobacco billionaire William B. Tensy (Hackman) in three months.  A hitch develops when Paige tries to pull off her own scam and ends up falling for the guy, a lovable (and rich) bartender named Jack (Lee).

This is a really funny movie.  It's also smart; the jokes are witty and the plot is often surprising.  In order to keep things from going stale by having Max play out the con (which would be redundant since it's explained in the first ten minutes), the writers keep having her run into Murphy's Law, which forces her to improvise constantly (often in surprising ways).

The two leads are well cast.  Sigourney Weaver is no stranger to doing comedy, and she devours the chance to let out her inner bad girl.  Scream Queen Jennifer Love Hewitt has never been sexier, and she demonstrates that she can time her jokes perfectly.  I really liked how director David Mirkin has them act like a real mother and daughter, with the same rebellious and protective instincts.  Weaver and Hewitt also have the chemistry to pull it off.

The men are good as well.  Ray Liotta spoofs his tough guy persona as Dean, aka Sucker #1.  Sucker #2, Tensey, is played by the always wonderful Gene Hackman, whose smoker's cough is the source for a fair amount of humor.  Finally, there's sucker #3, nice guy Jack.  Jason Lee is famous for playing potheads and morons, but here he shows that he has the talent to play a guy who is impossible not to like.

I wanted more from the ending.  It ties up a loose end, but there is comic potential that is unrealized.  Still, I liked "Heartbreakers."

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