The Heartbreak Kid (1972)

90% of critics liked it
(21 reviews)
64% of users liked it
(1,784 ratings)

In Elaine May's second directorial outing, Charles Grodin stars as Lenny, a slick salesman who, while honeymooning with his new bride, Lila (Jeannie Berlin, May's daughter), begins to have second thoughts about his marriage. Once Lenny spots the gorgeous Kelly (Cybill Shepherd), he is lost forever.… More In Elaine May's second directorial outing, Charles Grodin stars as Lenny, a slick salesman who, while honeymooning with his new bride, Lila (Jeannie Berlin, May's daughter), begins to have second thoughts about his marriage. Once Lenny spots the gorgeous Kelly (Cybill Shepherd), he is lost forever. Legally divesting himself of poor Lila, he follows Kelly to her upper-middle-class home, where he runs into the formidable opposition of her father (Eddie Albert), who states bluntly that he'd rather be dragged from a horse by his tongue than allow Lenny to become his son-in-law. The picture received critical kudos for Neil Simon's adroit screenplay, May's knowing direction, and Grodin's on-target performance. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: PG, 1 hr. 44 min.
Directed By: Elaine May
Written By: Neil Simon
Genres: Drama, Classics, Comedy

On DVD: Feb 5, 2002
Studio: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment

Critic Reviews

Variety Staff, Variety
Elaine May's deft direction catches all the possibilities of young romance and its tribulations in light strokes and cleverly accents characterization of the various principals.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Elaine May's The Heartbreak Kid was directed with a sure feeling for how comedy can edge over into satire and then tragedy.
Vincent Canby, New York Times
A first-class American comedy, as startling in its way as was The Graduate.
Pablo Villaca, Cinema em Cena
Grodin cria um personagem extremamente egoísta que, ainda assim, consegue despertar nossa pena, ao passo que Shepherd, lindíssima, surge mais complexa do que poderíamos imaginar. Mas é Berlin quem rouba o filme com sua Lila irritante e comovente.
Charles Cassady, Common Sense Media
Discussion-worthy '70s anti-romantic comedy.
Fernando F. Croce, CinePassion
A meticulous winnowing of the male ego for the clueless schmuck in it
Rob Nelson, City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul
Forget Fargo and A Simple Plan: In 1972, The Heartbreak Kid had Minnesota down cold.
, TV Guide's Movie Guide
Heartbreak doesn't end; it just runs out of steam.
Josh Larsen, Sun Publications (Chicago, IL)
Bitter about marriage yet optimistic about infatuation...
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
May's sardonic, poignant look at a romantic triangle of nice Jewish boy, nice Jewish wife, and the gorgeous shiksa who upsets their honeymoon was labeled by some as an exercise in self-loathing, and critics asking if all Jewish women are so irritating?
Alan Dale, Blogcritics.org
Sometimes it seems that nobody ever has any idea what it is he's chasing after, and so the chase never ends.... It's a good day when you can laugh about it, which is what The Heartbreak Kid lets you do.
, Time Out
Wittily directed by May, and neatly scripted by Neil Simon.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
A poignant and witty marital comedy.
Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com
Genuinely funny thanks to Grodin's prodigious comic talents, though Eddie Albert nearly steals the show.
James Sanford, Kalamazoo Gazette
Lots of fun, with a slightly bitter aftertaste
, Film4
A pleasing comic tragedy that looks at the disastrous effects of love on a man.

Read all 16 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

AJ V

I understand the story is realistic and it's supposed to be that real life kind of humor, but I just couldn't get into the movie. I found it boring and the actors pretty annoying too. Not a great movie at all.
Adam M

the remake might be good but it will have to be good in a totally different way than this dark, subtle comedy about a guy lusting for the unobtained and totally at a loss about who he is; Grodin shows that he was a great actor
William G

Great moral dilemma compensates for selfish characters.
Grifty G

Charles Grodin marries his girlfriend, and starts to realize on the Honeymoon that they might not be the best fit. He then meets Cybill Shepherd, and he's not the type of guy who has drop dead gorgeous girls paying attention to him, so he becomes instantly infatuated with her.… More
Charles Grodin marries his girlfriend, and starts to realize on the Honeymoon that they might not be the best fit. He then meets Cybill Shepherd, and he's not the type of guy who has drop dead gorgeous girls paying attention to him, so he becomes instantly infatuated with her. Shepherd is a spoiled rich girl who toys with Grodin, who is just one in a series of male admirers. An unusual "they don't make em like this anymore" type of film (I guess they just remake them). Grodin's character straddles the line between sympathetic loser, and selfish deluded asshole. My favorite parts of the movie involved Eddie Albert as Shepherd's father, who pretty much despises Grodin from the get-go.