CNET Networks Entertainment GameSpot | GameFAQs | SportsGamer | Metacritic | MP3.com | TV.com
Home | About Metacritic | About Metascores | What's New | Wireless Versions | Discussion Forums | Advertising Inquiries | Contact Us | RSS
Metacritic.com: We Deal With Criticism
     Help
> Switch to Advanced Search  
Film Video/DVD Music Games Books TV
Printer-Friendly Version Email This Page Discuss In Our Forums

Film

Upcoming Release Calendar
Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Film In Our Forums

 

Wide Releases

sort by name sort by score

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

 

Limited Releases

sort by name sort by score

97 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
83 Alexandra
43 Anamorph
35 Babysitters, The
32 Backseat
80 Band's Visit, The
62 Battle for Haditha
47 Bella
63 Blind Mountain
71 Blindsight
47 Boarding Gate
63 Body of War
58 Bra Boys
70 Caramel
54 Cashback
44 Chaos Theory
32 Chapter 27
69 Chicago 10
82 Chop Shop
46 CJ7
78 Counterfeiters, The
30 Cover
48 Dark Matter
35 Deal
61 Dhamma Brothers, The
92 Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The
73 Duchess of Langeais, The
20 Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
58 Fall, The
43 Favor, The
58 First Saturday in May, The
57 Flawless
87 Flight of the Red Balloon, The
xx From Within
44 Frontier(s)
59 Fugitive Pieces
41 Funny Games
66 George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead
61 Girls Rock!
55 Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts
57 Grand, The
58 Hats Off
68 Honeydripper
xx Jack and Jill vs. the World
67 Jellyfish
xx Kiss the Bride
37 Life Before Her Eyes, The
72 Life of Reilly, The
50 Look
65 Married Life
35 Meet Bill
63 Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
54 Mister Lonely
52 My Blueberry Nights
71 My Brother Is an Only Child
52 Noise
61 OSS 117: Cairo - Nest of Spies
83 Paranoid Park
55 Pathology
48 Penelope
90 Persepolis
62 Planet B-Boy
xx Plumm Summer, A
67 Praying with Lior
46 Previous Engagement, A
72 Priceless
17 Prom Night
69 Redbelt
72 Roman de gare
48 Run, Fat Boy, Run
85 Savages, The
24 Sex and Death 101
66 Shelter
75 Shotgun Stories
40 Sleepwalking
67 Snow Angels
64 Son of Rambow
71 Standard Operating Procedure
76 Stuff and Dough
64 Surfwise
xx Tashan
82 Taxi to the Dark Side
57 Teeth
56 Then She Found Me
55 Tracey Fragments, The
56 Turn the River
72 Tuya's Marriage
83 U2 3D
59 Under the Same Moon
76 Unforeseen, The
xx Unsettled
91 Up the Yangtze
55 Vice
79 Visitor, The
64 Water Lilies
45 Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden?
57 Without the King
74 Witnesses, The
63 XXY
67 Year My Parents Went on Vacation, The
75 Young@Heart
45 Zombie Strippers

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.



Heartbreakers
MGM

Heartbreakers reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 47 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
6.8 out of 10
based on 32 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 11 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: PG-13 for sex-related content including dialogue

Starring Sigourney Weaver, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Ray Liotta, Jason Lee, Jeffrey Jones, Gene Hackman, Nora Dunn, and Anne Bancroft

Max (Weaver) and Page (Love Hewitt) are a brilliant mother/daughter con team who have their grift down to a fine science. Max targets wealthy, willing men who fall prey to her beauty and charm, and marries them. The equally gorgeous Page then seduces them. (MGM)


GENRE(S): Romance  
WRITTEN BY: Robert Dunn
Paul Guay
Stephen Mazur
 
DIRECTED BY: David Mirkin  
RELEASE DATE: DVD: October 2, 2001 
Video: October 2, 2001 
Theatrical: March 23, 2001 
RUNNING TIME: 128 minutes, Color 
ORIGIN: USA 

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

75
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
Heartbreakers is "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" plus Gene Hackman as W.C. Fields. I guess that's enough to recommend it. It's not a great comedy, but it's a raucous one, hard-working and ribald, and I like its spirit.
Read Full Review
70
Salon.com Charles Taylor
Mirkin hits just the right note between naughty and raunchy.
Read Full Review
70
LA Weekly Chuck Wilson
Although the film is a tad long, Mirkin ("Romy and Michele's High School Reunion") has managed to pull off a classy, gently funny movie in which no one throws up, a rare blessing these days.
Read Full Review
70
Rolling Stone Peter Travers
It's not a pretty picture, but it is a pretty funny one when Gene Hackman shows up as William B. Tensy, a Palm Beach tobacco tycoon.
Read Full Review
70
Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas
As Hollywood diversions go, this gleaming MGM release still leaves you wishing the filmmakers took as many risks as their grifters do.
Read Full Review
70
The New York Times Dana Stevens
Naughty is an outdated word in an era of proud nastiness, but Heartbreakers has a slinky, teasing quality that recalls the dressed-up comedies of the studio era.
Read Full Review
63
Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
Crudely entertaining comedy.
63
New York Daily News Jack Mathews
Heartbreakers is too long by a half-hour, and there are entire sketches (including a horrid nightclub sequence with Weaver trying to sing in Russian) that could be mercifully sacrificed.
Read Full Review
63
Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington
Heartbreakers itself is something of a con game: an expensive imitation of older, better films from older, often better times.
60
Chicago Reader Reece Pendleton
Despite its nasty facade, this comedy is surprisingly good-natured.
Read Full Review
60
Slate David Edelstein
Con-artist caper comedies are almost always piffle, but there's a fierce, cruel competition at the heart of Heartbreakers that gives it some bite.
Read Full Review
50
Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
It's an obvious effort through and through, but that doesn't seem to dampen its ridiculous charm one bit.
Read Full Review
50
Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach
To its credit, Heartbreakers lives up to expectations. Almost.
50
Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
Never tickles your nasty bone, perhaps because, in an era when the gossip pages are dotted with news of celebrity prenups, the prospect of marriage as a route to instant fortune seems less scandalous than it does like business as usual.
Read Full Review
50
Boston Globe Jay Carr
Cries out for the brisk pacing of a Sturges or a Wilder. As is, it's too lumpish, languid, and lukewarm to hit even the guilty pleasure zone.
50
Washington Post Rita Kempley
A sporadically amusing romp modeled on "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels."
Read Full Review
50
Dallas Observer Gregory Weinkauf
Heartbreakers' implausible level of comedy just grows tedious, as it's neither smartly witty nor full-throttle absurd.
Read Full Review
50
Film.com Sean Means
Hewitt's twin assets may be enough for a lot of moviegoers -- which may be the biggest con Heartbreakers pulls off.
Read Full Review
50
USA Today Susan Wloszczyna
The nasty, overlong and undisciplined sourball of a sex farce about a mother-daughter con team will nonetheless satisfy bigenerational libidinous fantasies.
Read Full Review
50
San Francisco Chronicle Edward Guthmann
Lacks the kind of rhythm and snap to make it work -- and allows this fitfully entertaining romp to dribble on way too long.
Read Full Review
50
Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
If you're going to serve up a half-baked idea, you might as well have Sigourney Weaver do the cooking.
Read Full Review
50
Miami Herald Curtis Morgan
When the youngsters are out of the way and old pros Hackman and Weaver work, it's hard to really dislike Heartbreakers. Sometimes, it's even a little bit of harmless fun.
40
TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
While in her earlier movies Jennifer Love Hewitt made an impression by spilling out of her tops, in this one she spills out of her clothes at both ends. This could, if one were feeling charitable, be construed as a broadening of her range.
Read Full Review
40
Mr. Showbiz Cody Clark
Folks who are desperate to ogle Hewitt and Weaver probably can't be warned off this turkey.
40
Washington Post Desson Thomson
Trust me, you'll want to leave these people to get on with their tedious scams alone.
Read Full Review
40
Variety Todd McCarthy
Overstays its welcome by at least a half-hour after never getting very high off the ground in the first place.
Read Full Review
38
New York Post Jonathan Foreman
Despite its talented and/or attractive cast, Heartbreakers is an ugly movie: The kind that makes you feel slightly soiled afterwards.
33
Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy
A limp and annoying picture.
30
Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
There's nothing wrong with the structure of Heartbreakers, but David Mirkin's direction is woefully clumsy -- and the movie's tone is nasty.
30
Village Voice Jessica Winter
Heartbreakers gives redemption a bad name, but gives conniving misanthropy a worse one.
Read Full Review
25
Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
It's a sorry specimen if ever there was one, and could even stand as an argument for how the movies have deteriorated in recent years.
Read Full Review
20
New York Magazine Peter Rainer
What is the great Gene Hackman doing in the dingbat con-artist comedy Heartbreakers.
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 6.8 (out of 10) based on 11 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Hugo A. gave it a10:
I Love That Wonderfull Actress And Singer She Is So Pritty.

michael h. gave it a7:
I just loved looking at jennifer love hewitt in all those short little dresses. couldn't take my eyes off her.

Andrew M. gave it a 7:
I have said before that some folks seem to take certain movies way too seriously. This is a comedy, a coarse, mischievious, shady film that, while open to some criticism, should not be taken nor analysed too seriously. A question: While it may not be better than Dirty, Rotten Scoundrels, is it any more immoral or wrong, or worthy of strong criticism? I think not. It's a laughable film, but a very enjoyable one, with great performances all round. Ray Liotta is a standout, and Weaver, Hackman, Bancroft and Lee revel in their roles. Hewitt, I thought, was superb. Her acting was top notch in this film and what more can one say but...hubba hubba...hubba!

Benha* Meneses S. gave it a 6:
Even if this comedy uses some of the most common cliches ("There is just one man") and stereotypes applied to both men and women (the neediness of men to find someone to 'take care of' and the impediment of turning down an attractive female, the interest of women to 'be protected', and a long etc.) it has a strong message that redeems all the earlier. There is a massive consciousness awakening that let us see through the actions of the characters. As well there's Jason Lee's character that without being a wimp he takes the risk that loving someone represents (all the characters assume that risk eventually) and victimizing himself. It's quite refreshing to see a character with integrity in a comedy that has 'romantic' tendencies in it. Even if classified as a comedy I found some scenes truly confronting and well acted (like when Mrs. Madress watches the repulsion that Tensy causes in Ulga). Gene Hackman and Ray Liotta are excellent in their respective parts.

Nick S. gave it a 4:
This film was barely entertaining. Ray Liotta saved this film. I was just waiting all the time for him to return to the screen. His performance as well as Hackman's were pure comedic genius. Sigourney was extremely dry and Jennifer Love overacted as usual. But it was nice to see her in a more grownup role. Or more specifically, showing more cleavage and just plain skin.

Matt S. gave it an 8:
Top movie. One of the best this year. Ray Liotta kicked ass and so did the rest of the gang. A good watch and has a good feel to it.

Aggie H. gave it a 10:
It was a great movie. I never stopped laughing throughout the entire movie. It was excellent!

Read more user comments...

Discuss this movie in our forums

Return to top of page
Home | FILM | DVD/VIDEO | MUSIC | GAMES | BOOKS | TV | Forums | About Metacritic metacritic.com

About CNET Networks | Jobs | Advertise | Partnerships                                Visit other CNET Networks sites:

Copyright ©2007 CNET Networks, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Use