Screen Scene
By Daily Bruin Staff
April 5, 2001 9:00 p.m.
 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Jennifer Love Hewitt
(left) and Sigourney Weaver star in the new comedy
"Heartbreakers."
"Heartbreakers" Starring Sigourney Weaver and Jennifer
Love Hewitt Directed by David Mirkin
“Heartbreakers” is an outrageous comedy about a
mother-daughter pair of con women who target rich, single men and
high divorce settlements. Women who use their sexuality to
manipulate men may not be the feminist ideal of powerful female
role models, but the scam artists in “Heartbreakers”
counter the view of submissive and oppressed women. In fact, their
powers of seduction would almost be admirable if they weren’t
so cold-hearted and devious. In the duo’s formulaic con, Max
(Sigourney Weaver) seduces men and drives them to marriage
proposals with her religious chastity. Within 24 hours of the
wedding ceremony, her daughter Page (Jennifer Love Hewitt) uses her
natural assets and some skimpy clothing to put the sexually
frustrated newlyweds into compromising positions. In the first
scam, Dean Cummano (Ray Liotta) is caught with his pants down and
leaves the divorce settlement $300,000 poorer. Although Cummano was
supposed to be their last scam as a team, a visit from the IRS
breaks their bank account and Page agrees to do one more con with
her mother despite her eagerness to be out on her own. This con,
which targets tobacco company billionaire William B. Tensy (Gene
Hackman), is complicated by a meddling maid (Nora Dunn), a
revenge-seeking Cummano and Page’s attempt to do a concurrent
side scam. In trying to con the boy-next-door, bartender Jack
(Jason Lee), Page struggles not to become emotionally involved,
even though Jack perpetually adores her despite her erratic mood
swings and bizarre behavior. The interaction between the two
characters leads to humorous interludes when Jack’s honesty
shatters Page’s confidence and embarrasses the usually poised
and controlled girl. Much of the humor is in the form of dramatic
irony, such as the brief but amusing scene in which the two women
simultaneously try to con an unknowing bystander into buying one of
them a drink to settle a feud. However, audience members will find
themselves hilariously frustrated when they realize that they too
are being conned into thinking the plot is predictably simple.
Numerous twists arise due to the conflicting motives of the mother
and daughter who attempt to manipulate each other to serve their
own purposes. Max thinks she can keep Page from growing up by
making her economically dependent and Page is convinced she is
mature enough to run her own scams without her mother’s
knowledge, though she shows signs of morality and emotion while
trying to con the adorably persistent Jack. A clever script riddled
with sexual innuendos and a hilarious all-star cast make for a
playful comedy that entertains without requiring any deep thought
or emotional involvement from the audience. It won’t change
your life but it will make you laugh.
Whitney Smith Rating: 7
"The Dish" Starring Sam Neill and Patrick Warburton
Directed by Rob Sitch
Two years ago, Australian director Rob Sitch gave us his
directorial debut in “The Castle,” one of the most
hilarious hidden treasures about a lovably uncouth family that goes
to great lengths to protect their safety hazard of a home from the
officials. Not only was the premise a bit daffy, but that was also
just a small part of the film’s pleasure. The quirky
personalities weren’t just used for identification purposes,
they were the source of unexpected belly laughs. Sitch and his team
of writers are doing it again with a bunch of quirky underdogs
thrust upon a huge task. This time, however, the story is true. The
year is 1969 and a giant satellite dish, situated in the middle of
the Australian sheep farm community Parkes, is about to capture
Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon, and it’s up
to the motley crew of scientists to capture the images that will
circulate around the world, possibly forever. But it’s not as
easy as pointing the dish in the right direction. A power outage,
violent winds and conflicts within the crew threaten its ability to
rise to the occasion. Even though a topic like the moon mission can
be very serious (think “Apollo 13″), Sitch manages to
inject the movie with the quirky charm of “The Castle.”
Viewers get caught up in asides like scientist Glenn (Tom Long)
who’s smitten by the lunchgirl; technician Mitch (Kevin
Harrington) who doesn’t take kindly to American NASA
representative Al’s (Patrick Warburton) condescending
treatment; and the leader Cliff (Sam Neill), who keeps the peace.
Meanwhile, the Parkes townspeople prepare for the slew of worldly
officials, but not without some funny faux pas like the local band
mistaking the American national anthem for the theme song to
“Hawaii Five-O.” “The Dish” is not so much
a serious documentary-like slice of history as it is an exploration
of the human comedy that exists in more solemn circumstances.
Though many of the details in the film are fictional, the story
captures a kind of awe and humility of the time ““ for the
world, the unimaginable possibility that a man could travel to the
moon, and for Parkes, the chance to make history that far exceeds
the townspeople’s imagination. Admittedly, “The
Dish” is not as strong a comedic achievement as “The
Castle.” There are just too many characters, and the audience
can’t quite connect individually with any of them. Instead,
viewers identify with the town as the main character of the story,
eagerly waiting to witness this great human achievement and not
quite believing they have a part in it.
Sandy Yang Rating: 7
