Shane Life

If you are planning on going and seeing the latest Jennifer Aniston-Vince Vaughn flick, bear this in mind: it is not a typical romantic comedy.

There has been so much hype surrounding this movie that I think a lot of people are going expecting to see Wedding Crashers II with Vince & Jen. The thing is, this is less a romantic comedy and more a “relationship dramedy”. It’s really a great take on what happens to relationships when the lines of communication break down. You’ll find both parties somewhat at fault, but at the core is really a misunderstanding of how to communicate.

That being said, I really really liked this flick. Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston give what I think are their best acting performances to date.

Vince Vaughn is really impressive. The guy has made the “fun-lovin’ party guy” role famous in movies like Old School, Dodgeball, and Wedding Crashers, but here, he shows that he can reign it in when it is absolutely necessary. (Vaughn fans, don’t worry, there are plently of quotables and Vaughn rants in this flick, they just don’t account for the meat of the movie.) His portrayal of Gary Grobowski, a typical Chicago guy who is just trying to carve out his own place is so genuine that you really have to ask yourself if you’re just watching a movie about the real Vaughn (possible, considering that Vaughn is credited with assisting in the story creation).

Where I thought Vaughn was at his best in Break-Up wasn’t during his hilariously funny first meeting with Aniston’s Brooke, but it was when he wasn’t saying anything at all. His pensive looks, his moments of introspection just rang true with me.

Director Peyton Reed (Down With Love) did an absolutely phenomenal job at making us feel like we were a part of the scenery. When Gary and Brooke fight, I almost felt uncomfortable because it seemed like I was eavesdropping on a private conversation.

As far as Jennifer Aniston’s performance goes…from what I understand, Vaughn and his writing partners wrote Brooke with her in mind (this is before they were an item, mind you. I thought that her portrayal of Brooke was great and it helped to solidify the commonly accepted belief that she was one of the best of the actors from Friends. The chemistry between them makes a lot of sense because they are so good at being normal. They are normal people with normal problems (although few people are as skinny as she is) and that is what makes this movie so interesting.

If I were a filmmaker, this is the kind of movie I would want to make. It won’t win any awards, but it will ring true with audiences because they can identify with the characters. They are real people who have problems communicating and coming to a common ground. That’s the stuff that us people in the real world deal with every day. That’s why I appreciated this movie so much. It wasn’t the scene-chewing Vaughn or the beautiful Aniston that made this movie. It was their interaction and their interpretation of what a real relationship is like - the struggles, the highs and lows, and all the stuff that happens in between all the really good times.

As long as you realize that you are not going to see a typical Vince Vaughn movie, you might like this as much as I did. And I liked it a lot.

UPDATE: This movie ended up doing incredibly well at the box office, out-pacing X-Men: The Last Stand by about $5 million. Considering that its budget was about a quarter what X-Men was…that isn’t too bad.

Maybe one of the funniest movies of the past 5 years.

Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson (sans Ben Stiller THANK THE LORD) team up for an absolutely riotous buddy comedy / romantic comedy. There was a point during the movie that I actually thought I was going to choke because I was laughing so hard.

I read an interesting review that posed itself as a feature piece in GQ about Vaughn, Wilson, Stiller, Will Ferrell (whose cameo is actually pretty funny-WAAAAY funnier than Anchorman- but not nearly the funniest part of the movie), and Luke Wilson. Essentially, what the author of the article said was that out of all the movies that these guys have done together, Wedding Crashers is clearly the best. It went on to talk about how their movies are formulaic, but they continue to dominate the box office so why should these guys do anything else?

That’s a good question. I, for one, am a bit tired of Ben Stiller and was pretty psyched to NOT see him in this movie. It was infinitely better because of it. Vaughn and Wilson have great on-screen chemistry and Vince Vaughn delivers his lines better than anyone. His timing is perfect and he gives his best performance since Swingers.

The supporting characters in the movie are terrific as well. Rachel McAdams shines and is an up-and-coming star who has finally shirked her teen-comedy jinx and is starting to get better and better roles. Christopher Walken was, well, Christopher Walken. I mean, he’s Bruce Dickinson. And he’s gotta have more cowbell. Newish-comer Isla Fisher is great as Vaughn’s psychotic love interest and one of my favorite Alias characters, Will (Bradley Cooper) is so believable as the ultra-male, in-the-way, dominant boyfriend, that I almost disliked him.

LOCK IT UP.

Overall, I loved this movie. Sure, Owen Wilson isn’t exactly believable as a romantic lead, but Vince Vaughn more than makes up for Owen’s shortcomings in this flick.

My IMDb rating: 8.5 out of 10.