Cast surpasses the writing

by Lauren Gross
Staff Writer

Sigourney Weaver and Jennifer Love Hewitt have two major things in common: Women want to be them and men want to be with them. With the two of them tag-teaming it as femme fatales, Heartbreakers is bound to please most viewers.

Max (Weaver) and her daughter Page (Hewitt) are con-vixens who use their leg length and cup size to get what they want. As the film opens, Max is marrying Dean Cumanno (Ray Liotta). The marriage is not even 24-hours stale when Dean is caught messing around with his secretary who turns out to be Page. The entire scene is a setup for another (number 13) quick and easy divorce settlement for Max.

This is a mother-daughter story, similar to last year's Anywhere but Here, about letting your child grow up.

Page is growing up and wants to be on her own. However, her mother sets up a scam to keep her daughter close and save her from heartbreak. Panties get in a bunch (literally) when the cute, but dorky Jack the bartender (Jason Lee) and the jaundice-colored, picture of a cancerous death, William Tensy (Gene Hackman) enter the picture.

Jennifer Love Hewitt and Sigourney Weaver deliver performances that are sexy and funny, yet sometimes annoying. Casting directors Juel Bestrop and Jean McCarthy do a fabulous job pairing up the two divas, for Weaver reflects an older but less trashy Hewitt.

The supporting cast is well matched also. Hackman makes a 180-degree turn from his normal roles to create the Tensy character. Lee acts in his most idiotic role yet (odd since he fancies Kevin Smith films), and Anne Bancroft gives a strong performance that is more scandalous than Mrs. Robinson.

Adding to the perks of the film is the soundtrack. Danny Elfman, whose sound credentials include (but are definitely not limited to) The Simpsons theme song and the music from Good Will Hunting, composed a fast-paced theme song that is laced throughout the film.

With great acting and an excellent musical score, it's a shame that the storyline isn't as tight as Hewitt's outfits. Barely crossing the two-hour mark, it is too long. Also, much of the storyline is unbelievable and distasteful. Heartbreakers goes from being a film about feisty female dominance to one about sappy, male-dependant romance.

Director David Mirkin isn't conning anyone with this attempt to top his 1997 disaster-comedy Romy and Michele's High School Reunion.

Though the storyline is vomit-worthy, the cast and crew more than make up for it in this surprisingly enjoyable eye-candied film.