MOVIE REVIEW: 'The Break-Up'

BY ROGER EBERT
June 1, 2006

Excerpted ~

The supporting cast adds variety, to be sure, but of a strange kind. Occasionally, supporting actors will be so effective you want the movie to be about them. "The Break-Up" is filled with actors who seem to be auditioning for that role. John Michael Higgins, as Brooke's brother, is the leader of a men's choir and tries to turn a family dinner party into a sing-along; this scene might be funny in theory, but in practice, it's ungainly. Favreau and Adams, as the best friends, get whiplash from a plot that requires them to give one kind of advice at the beginning and another kind toward the end, as if they hadn't been listening to themselves. And Judy Davis, as the art gallery owner, behaves as if she should be carrying a whip. The best supporting performance is by Vincent D'Onofrio, as Gary's older brother: He does exactly what is required, finds the right notes, and is so convincing we hardly notice he is cleaning his ears with separate handkerchiefs.

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:: Thanks S.Olson