Heartbreakers

Heartbreakers is a comedy about two women who make a living out of deceit. In fact, they make a living by marrying rich men, and then creating grounds for divorce. Max, played by Sigourney Weaver, marries the guy, and then her daughter Page, played by Jennifer Love Hewitt, seduces him. Max walks in, catches them, and wham! Divorce settlement. Her latest victim is Dean, played by Ray Liotta, and after yet another successful scam, Page decides she wants to go it alone. Max doesn't think she's ready yet, and talks her out of it. They then select a new target, one William Tensy, a rich but repulsive old man played by Gene Hackman.

Pretending to be Russian, Max intrigues Tensy, and he starts taking her out. When they visit a Russian night-club, Max's game is almost tumbled when the waiter starts talking to her in Russian. She cleverly escapes the situation and Tensy just becomes more and more infatuated with her. The plan is working, but he is so disgusting, a chain smoker who is coughing when he's not smoking, and coughing when he is. Max wonders how she will ever pull this one off.

Meanwhile, Page, a very stubborn young lady, meets Jack, played by Jason Lee, a nice-guy bartender whose bar is supposed to be worth a lot of money, and proceeds to work on him. It isn't difficult, Jack falls for her quite easily. The problem is that Page, being inexperienced, starts to fall for him; precisely the reason that Max said she wasn't ready. Page is confused — part of her just wants to be with Jack, and part of her want to rip him off. What can she do?

Heartbreakers is very funny in a few places, but as a comedy it's not quite funny enough. There are a few very clever visual tricks, one involving a duck, and one involving the kiss of life, and the part where a dead body falls over a balcony is as amusing as the sound a beetle makes when trodden on.