A punishing 'Heartbreak'

"The Heartbreak Kid" runs coarsely against the grain of the "Knocked Up" school of comedies that enshrine fidelity, self-sacrifice and romantic commitment.

Written and directed by the Farrelly brothers in full-on gross-out mode, "Kid" takes the opposite direction - if there's something that bugs you about your fiancee, no matter how trivial, trust your instincts and run for the hills.

Their comedy features Ben Stiller as Eddie Cantrow, a bachelor egged on by happily married pals (Rob Corddry) to "take the plunge."

So when Ben has a chance meeting with a leggy blonde (Malin Akerman), he decides to tie the knot after an abrupt courtship marked by rose-colored infatuation and lax scrutiny.

Doubts begin to surface immediately, on the car ride south to a honeymoon in Cabo, when what starts as a charming sing-along-with-Springsteen devolves into a braying karaoke marathon.

The marriage is consummated at a motel stopover, featuring an athletic sexual marathon that frightens Eddie and belies his bride's previously stated belief in the benefits of abstinence.

Things go from worse to awful down in Cabo; meanwhile, Eddie meets a charming tomboy (Michelle Monaghan) who's vacationing with family. He falls for her, decides it's true love, and then tries to find a way to tell his wife he wants a divorce and his girlfriend that he's married.

"The Heartbreak Kid" doesn't have much to do with the Neil Simon-scripted/Elaine May-directed original, and jettisons (or inverts) the nice Jewish boy/shiksa dynamic (Charles Grodin, Cybill Shepherd) that raised hackles back in 1972.

It's been Farrelly-ized, so the big laughs come from things being stuck up a nose, sex gags and some foul language (the movie is a well-deserved "R," so don't even think about bringing the kids).

Ultimately, though, it feels less inspired than early Farrelly brothers, and less interested in character than some of their more recent movies.

Stiller, who concluded his last Farrelly Brothers movie with a fishing lure in his cheek, runs around a beach with a jellyfish on his back. He can still get laughs for his pained, baffled reactions to outlandish situations and people, but there are no surprises here.

Akerman, however, deserves some kind of Oscar for courage. You have to be a good sport to be a lead in a Farrelly Brothers movie (remember Cameron Diaz's "There's Something About Mary" hair gel) and she goes bravely from goddess to flatulent, deranged bimbo. It's funny, but there's no rebound, and you begin to detect something you're not used to feeling in a Farrelly film - cruelty. *

Produced by Ted Field and Bradley Thomas, directed by Peter and Bobby Farrelly, written by Peter and Bobby Farrelly, Scot Armstrong and Leslie Dixon, music by Brendan Ryan and Bill Ryan, distributed by DreamWorks.