Aug 27, 2001 11:05 PM
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Heartbreakers
Main Characters:
• Sigourney Weaver as Max Conners
• Jennifer Love Hewitt as Page Conners
• Gene Hackman as William B. Tensy
• Ray Liotta as Dean Cumanno
It’s scandalous the way filmmakers reckon men turn into sex-crazed cretins every time we see a scantily clad woman. I’ve always felt the female form must be treated with dignity... and I’m willing to bet my scratch and sniff Cameron Diaz poster collection that I’m not alone. But the makers of Heartbreakers clearly believe that when it comes to sex, women rule... and men drool.
The Plot
Sigourney Weaver plays Max a curvy woman who operates a marriage scam with her stunning daughter Page, to swindle guys out of their cash. Max marries the suckers, then arranges for Page to get caught in a compromising position with them so she can file for a divorce and walk off with half of their money.
When the pair discover they face jail over a huge unpaid tax bill, they decide their next victim will be a mega-wealthy cigarette tycoon (Tensy) who can provide enough money for them to retire on. But as Max gets her claws into him, the plans are thrown into turmoil when a previous victim (Dean) turns up hoping to win her back. Heartbreakers is not full with great one-liners, but what makes it fun is a string of superb comic performances.
Character Performances
Weaver is on top form as the hard-nosed Max – a seductress who has spent more time on her back than Frank Bruno, and at 51 this woman looks sensational. When she stripped down to her underwear, the guy sitting next to me got so excited he dropped his hotdog. Or at least that’s what I think happened.
Liotta is very funny as dodgy car parts dealer Dean, gently sending up the small-time hoods he usually plays. But Gene Hackman is the real scene-stealer as the nauseating nicotine addicted William B. Tensy. He also gets the best lines, like when he tells Max how kids love his firm’s ciggies, saying “We just did some testing on nine-year-olds, after a little puking you couldn’t drag them away from the stuff.”
Hewitt is too busy persuading her breasts to defy the laws of gravity to worry acting. If she can locate the whereabouts of her feet without radar I’d be very surprised.
Conclusion
The main criticism is that this is just too slight a story to keep going for more than two hours. In the last 20 minutes the pace really begins to drag, especially as you don’t need a map and compass to work out exactly where it is heading. That aside Heartbreakers is like Max and Page – slick, professional and great to look at.
