The Break-Up

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The Break-Up
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Peyton Reed
Produced by	Vince Vaughn Peter Billingsley
Written by	Vince Vaughn(story) Jeremy Garelick Jay Lavender
Starring	Vince Vaughn Jennifer Aniston
Music by	Jon Brion
Cinematography	Eric Alan Edwards
Editing by	Dan Lebental
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	June 2, 2006
Running time	105 min.
Country
Language	English
Budget	$52 million
Gross revenue	$202,483,135
Official website
IMDb profile

The Break-Up is a 2006 comedy-drama film from Universal Pictures starring Vince Vaughn, Jennifer Aniston, Joey Lauren Adams, Jon Favreau, Ann-Margret, Vincent D'Onofrio, Cole Hauser, Jason Bateman, Justin Long, John Michael Higgins and Judy Davis. It was written by Jay Lavender and Jeremy Garelick, and directed by Peyton Reed.

1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Reception
4 Music
5 Trivia
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Plot

A bickering couple, Gary (Vaughn) and Brooke (Aniston), live in a condo in Chicago. Both are driven in their careers, with Gary running a thriving city tour business with his brothers and Brooke working in an art gallery. Early in the movie, they separate after a bitter argument. Their conflicts are largely due to Gary's immaturity.

Their social backgrounds contribute to the division that becomes apparent between them. Brooke has applied feng shui books from her mother in the interior design of her and Gary's condo; her brother Richard is part of an a cappella group called The Tone Rangers; her friend Addie uses phrases of advice such as "Remember, we're always owning our actions, right? And we're always healthy with it, yes?"; and Brooke bemoans how many times she has dropped "hints about the ballet" to Gary, but to no avail. By contrast, Gary likes action-oriented video games, is an avid Chicago sports fan, and wants a pool table in the condo. Brooke is fighting for their relationship to stay alive. However, the condo ends up becoming the subject of a war in which both try to outwit and outdo each other through blind dates, drunken parties, and broken promises.

In the end, they agree to separate, both giving up the condo, taking their share of the money from its sale and moving on with their lives. After learning through a real-estate agent friend that a buyer has been found and that they have two weeks to move out, Brooke invites Gary to an Old 97's concert for which she had previously bought tickets for the two of them. Gary agrees to meet her there, but instead heads to his friend Johnny O's bar, making Brooke upset to the point of crying. In spite of a subsequent effort by Gary to reach out to Brooke by preparing a surprise dinner in the condo, their breakup has become inevitable.

Gary, realizing what he has lost (and having matured a bit), returns to his tour business with new vigor while Brooke travels the world, eventually finding her way back to Chicago. At the end of the movie, they meet again by chance on the streets of Chicago. After some awkward but friendly catching up, they part ways but catch each other glancing over their shoulders and share a smile.

[edit] Cast

Vince Vaughn as Gary Grobowski
Jennifer Aniston as Brooke Meyers
Joey Lauren Adams as Addie
Cole Hauser as Lupus Grobowski, Gary's brother
Jon Favreau as Johnny O
Jason Bateman as Riggleman
Judy Davis as Marilyn Dean
Justin Long as Christopher
John Michael Higgins as Richard Meyers, Brooke's brother
Ann-Margret as Wendy Meyers, Brooke's mom
Vincent D'Onofrio as Dennis Grobowski, Gary's other brother
Peter Billingsley as Andrew
Mary-Pat Green as Mischa
Keir O'Donnell as Paul
Geoff Stults as Mike

[edit] Reception

The original ending was not well received with a test audience, and as a result Universal Studios had to re-shoot. According to the Chicago Tribune, "the first ending made basically the same point in a slightly different way".^{[citation needed]} The romance/comedy film has grossed over $203 million worldwide, with a total of $118,703,275 in the American box-office. Nacho Libre was originally scheduled for release the same date as this film, but was delayed, and instead, opened on June 16, 2006 in the United States.

[edit] Music

The first song selection, coupled with snapshots of the then-happy couple, was Queen's "You're My Best Friend." Also featured in the film are the songs "Story of My Life" by Social Distortion, "Boogie Nights" by Heatwave, "You Oughta Know" by Alanis Morissette, "Time Bomb" and "Salome" by the Old 97's, and Queen's "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" sung by Dwight Yoakam. The closing song, which may portend the future of their relationship, is Johnny Nash's, "I Can See Clearly Now", a hit of 1972. In the trailer is another song by Social Distortion - "Ball and Chain."
One of the film's scenes is set at a concert performed by alternative country band, Old 97's in Chicago's Riviera Theater.
The song "Timebomb" by the Old 97's was also featured in the movie Clay Pigeons, which also starred Vince Vaughn.
The Tone Rangers is the name of an actual a cappella group in Washington, D.C., who are thanked in the credits.

[edit] Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

Vince Vaughn's stepbrother has an appearance in the opening credits in a picture with Aniston and Vaughn. He is dressed as the Leprechaun for the Notre Dame game.
In some scenes, Gary plays video games on his PlayStation 2. The list of games he plays includes Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Fight Night: Round 3, and 2006 edition of Madden NFL.
Vince Vaughn gained 26 pounds for the role. However, the intentions of this are not certain, as Vaughn was reported to have gained weight as a result of his recent decision to quit smoking.
Brad Ausmus, Todd Hollandsworth, Rickie Weeks, and Derrek Lee are a few of the actual Major League Baseball players seen throughout the movie at Wrigley Field or on Gary's television.
The guy sitting next to Vince Vaughn's character at the Chicago Cubs game with a Cubs jersey and baseball cap in the opening scene is Jay Lavender, the writer/producer of the film.
The baseball game Gary watches on television throughout the movie was between the Chicago Cubs and Toronto Blue Jays and was played in early June of 2005.
Aniston wore Generra Jean throughout the film.
Gary talks about getting hopped up and making bad decisions on the Three Brothers boat. In Wedding Crashers, Vince Vaughn's character Jeremy Gray says, in a rant about blind dates, that he's just wondering if he and his date will get hopped up enough to make some bad decisions. In both The Break-Up and Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, Vaughn's character tells a child that their parent(s) do not really love them.
After Brooke mentions that she noticed Gary lost weight, Gary says to her that he's "one of those people who's thin but doesn't have a muscle on their body." This is said by Vaughn during a bonus feature on the Dodgeball DVD.
In the club, Lupus sarcastically asks Gary if he will be arrested for "being awesome." In a deleted scene from Old School, Vince Vaughn asks Luke Wilson the same thing.
Vince Vaughn acted with Jennifer Aniston's ex-husband, Brad Pitt, in Mr. & Mrs. Smith, the year before this movie was released.
This is the fourth time Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau have been in a movie together (after Swingers, Made and Rudy). Although in the previous films Favreau played the strait-laced guy while in this film Vaughn is the strait-laced man while Favreau offers to break into Aniston's e-mail and tells Vaughn he will "take care of" her new boyfriend.
This is the second film to co-star Vince Vaughn, Justin Long and Jason Bateman. The first was Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
Vince Vaughn met Jennifer Aniston on the set for the movie, and were romantically involved since then until December 2006.^[1]
In one scene, Jennifer Aniston's character Brooke is told by her boss to request "The Telly Savalas" at the waxing parlor. In real life, Telly Savalas was best friend to Aniston's father, as well as being Aniston's godfather.
In the movie they can be seen drinking from cups with the Notre Dame insignia on it possibly homage to the movie Rudy in which both Vaughn and Favreau appeared.
The vocal arrangements for the Tone Rangers were actually written by John Michael Higgins, the actor who plays Richard. Concert footage of the Tone Rangers singing "The Rainbow Connection" was cut from the film.