Overview
A honeymoon turns into a comedic disaster when a man finds his true love just days after tying the knot.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Moderate
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- None
- witty
- bittersweet
- awkward
- classic comedy night
- date night
What critics said
Critics broadly praised the film as an original, expertly acted American comedy that finds sharp, bittersweet humor in love and marriage, while some objected to its abrupt ending and tension between farce and seriousness.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Lenny's pursuit of Kelly is played for escalating laughs while revealing disturbing and painful attitudes toward love and marriage.
Lenny interprets attraction to Kelly as proof that his marriage was a mistake and pursues an idealized alternative.
Lenny's infidelity and opportunism drive the comedy, inviting both sympathy for his foolishness and judgment of his behavior.
Elaine May frames Lenny's pursuit and assumptions about women through awkward encounters with Kelly, Lila, and Kelly's protective father.
Films like The Heartbreak Kid, and why
The Graduate
bittersweet romantic comedy exposing self-deception and uneasy attitudes toward marriage
Annie Hall
socially observant, uncomfortable American comedy built around romantic and marital misbehavior
Husbands and Wives
sharp relationship comedy balancing farce with painful emotional consequences
Movie Details
- Director
- Elaine May
- Release Date
- 1972-12-17
- Runtime
- 105 min
- Rating
- 6.7 / 10 (113)
Cast
- Charles Grodin
- Cybill Shepherd
- Jeannie Berlin
- Eddie Albert
- Audra Lindley
- Mitchell Jason
- William Prince
- Augusta Dabney
- Doris Roberts
- Jack Hausman
Common questions
- What is The Heartbreak Kid about?
- A newlywed's honeymoon becomes an excruciatingly funny pursuit of an imagined better marriage.
- What is The Heartbreak Kid like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Heartbreak Kid as brisk, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as layered.
- Is The Heartbreak Kid violent?
- No — Ember's analysis finds no violence in The Heartbreak Kid.
- What did critics think of The Heartbreak Kid?
- Critics broadly praised the film as an original, expertly acted American comedy that finds sharp, bittersweet humor in love and marriage, while some objected to its abrupt ending and tension between farce and seriousness.
- Which films are like The Heartbreak Kid?
- Films with a similar feel include The Graduate, Annie Hall, and Husbands and Wives.
- How long is The Heartbreak Kid?
- The Heartbreak Kid runs 105 minutes.
