THE HEARTBREAK KID (1972)
d: Elaine May

I've seen Robert Altman accused of misanthropy, for NASHVILLE and SHORT CUTS. Any such claim can only be made by someone who has never seen THE HEARTBREAK KID, a film of savage, delicate cynicism which remained unequalled as a black comedy, as far as I know, until Todd Solondz's HAPPINESS, some 25 years later.

Neil Simon's name is used to promote the film, almost as though it were another light comedy on the order of THE ODD COUPLE, and I am morbidly curious to know how many people bought tickets to THE HEARTBREAK KID on that basis, only to find themselves viewing an Elaine May film instead.

THE HEARTBREAK KID is most accurately described as a romantic horror film - a film in which the romance IS the horror. It is a film best seen cold, and these few shots here are not spoilers by any means, but might give a slight sense of one layer of the film's tone.

The film is definitely a comedy, but shtick-free and utterly deadpan. There are no punchines, only escalating levels of squirm-producing, hysterically funny ill-ease.

This was my third screening of THE HEARTBREAK KID in as many years. It was first suggested to me by Tony S., who had also pushed MIKEY AND NICKY on me years before. Sadly, to discuss "Elaine May films" is to discuss only those two, plus the not-on-DVD A NEW LEAF and ISHTAR.

I sometimes wish there were more Elaine May films, but then she directed as many perfect movies as her former partner Mike Nichols, whose fuller filmography is riddled with mediocre work.