Heartbreakers - Vizio di famiglia

Much to my surprise, this movie is actually very funny and entertaining! It's about a mother/daughter con team of Max and Page (played by Sigourney Weaver of `Aliens' and Jennifer Love Hewitt of `Can't Hardly Wait') who prey upon wealthy men with the mom as bait and the daughter as cheating material to end the marriage in a fraudulent divorce. Therefore, they get half of everything he owns, which tides them over until the next poor sucker is tracked down. And these are supposed to be the good guys (or girls)? Just like `Hannibal', you end up rooting for the main characters, regardless of their motives. While this seems to work fine for them on a rich chop shop owner named Dean (Ray Liotta of `Goodfellas') and tobacco tycoon William Tensy (Gene Hackman of `Enemy of the State'), they run into a unexpected problem when Page falls for a bar owner named Jack (Jason Lee of `Chasing Amy') and actually grows a conscience on their supposed `last con'. Meanwhile, Dean tracks the two down and uncovers their scam. Due to the hilarious performances by Liotta and Hackman, and the amazing turn for Hewitt (from the dreadful `Party of Five'), this movie stayed on track and kept the laughs rolling. While this could've fizzled in so many spots, it managed to turn itself into one of the most surprisingly enjoyable comedies in a while, possibly due to director David Mirkin's (Romy and Michele's High School Reunion') fast-paced, yet lighthearted touch.

Stories this luscious and sumptuous, well directed and seamlessly edited, with characters faultlessly portrayed by an outstanding cast, come along rarely, and this is one of the best. It is so good that there are not superlatives enough to do it credit. The basic setup is that the principal characters, a mother, tantalizingly portrayed by Weaver, and her daughter, multifacetedly portrayed by Hewett, are "artistes confidence" to the core of their superficial existences. They cannot so much as have "lunch" without practicing their arts of the scam, but mainly they work the old "betrothal" game. Mom gets her rich mark to the alter, then even before the marriage can be consummated, the daughter, pretending to be unrelated, exploits the man's foolish libido, resulting in a substantial settlement after mom catches them apparently "in flagrante." But then things start going haywire when the daughter decides to strike out on her own, because the guy she fixes on as a mark is not like other guys at all. How he is not, and how her character develops as a result, makes for two hours of outstanding comedy and drama.

Max and Page Conners are a mother-and-daughter con team. Max singles out wealthy men and convinces them to marry her. Once married, Page seduces him, ensuring that Max catches them in the act. Cue divorce proceedings and a large settlement. What could possibly go wrong, except maybe falling in love?

A decent romantic-comedy. Plot is basic and predictable but there are some very funny moments. There's also some decent dramatic moments too.

Sigourney Weaver and Jennifer Love Hewitt are great in the lead roles. Solid supporting cast that includes Ray Liotta, Gene Hackman, Jason Lee, Anne Bancroft, Carrie Fisher and Sarah Silverman.

This screwball comedy brings together some great dramatic actors in unaccustomed comedic roles. The results are mixed (but mostly good), with some terrific slapstick and some pure drivel. Maxine (Sigourney Weaver) and Paige (Jennifer Love Hewitt) are two very slick con artists who find rich patsies and marry them, only to divorce them for big settlements after enticing them into indiscretions. When they get nabbed by the IRS for not paying their taxes, they must score one more time to climb out of their financial mess. The target is chain smoking billionaire William B. Tensy (Gene Hackman) who is dying before our eyes of lung disease. The only question is whether Maxine can get him to propose before he keels over. Meanwhile, Paige is running her own scam on Jack (Jason Lee) who owns a bar resting on prime real estate worth $3 Million.

It is mostly pratfall humor, with lots of sight gags and general nuttiness, which is often uproariously funny. The whole idea that the diminutive Paige could have been spawned from the Amazonian Maxine is implied comedy at its finest, leading us to conclude that Paige's father could only have been a midget.

Gene Hackman completely steals the show as the wheezy billionaire. Hackman, who is one of our national treasures as a dramatic actor, shows magnificent range, and he turns out to be the best comedian of the bunch. Sigourney Weaver is also in rare form brandishing some bodacious outfits and undergarments. She is especially funny as Olga, trotting out impressive broken English and even doing some vocals accompanied by a Russian balalaika band. Ray Liotta gives a lighthearted and funny performance as a chop shop owner who can't get over his love for Maxine, even though he knows she scammed him. Jason Lee's understated nice guy portrayal serves as the perfect counterpart to Jennifer Love Hewitt's bratty vamp. The perennially cute Hewitt still can't seem to transition into grownup roles. No matter how sexy they make her up (and they do quite a good job with her considerable attributes), her pubescent mannerisms and delivery still make her come off as a teenage harpy. In her defense, this is what the role required, but it doesn't do much to move her out of her character rut.

Overall, there is a lot of good fun here that is often dissipated by puerile absurdity. Still, there are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, mostly delivered by Weaver and Hackman, that make this a better than average comedy. I rated it 7/10. Fans who like seeing Sigourney and Jennifer in sexy outfits will not be disappointed.

The film was billed as a romantic comedy, but I didn't see it that way. It's certainly a comedy (with a little romance) but this is far closer to Dirty Rotten Scoundrels than Pretty Woman.

Anyway, when i watched it i found the film to be one of the best comedies i've seen for years. Its about a sexy mother and daughter pairing of Sigourney Weaver and Jennifer Love-Hewitt who basically marry men for their money; every character seems to be double crossing every other character, and it makes for terrific viewing.

Each member of the cast puts in a top performance, the characters are all intelligently written and the story is very strong and interesting.

I have to recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys a good laugh, this is definitely not just a another chick flick, it is a brilliantly funny movie. 8/10