The Heartbreak Kid

Snubbed: Charles Grodin 

Dir. Elaine May. 1972, U.S. 106 mins. 35mm print courtesy of the BFI National Archive. With Charles Grodin, Cybill Shepard, Jeannie Berlin, Eddie Albert, Audra Lindley. May’s gutsy anti-romantic comedy stars a never slimier Grodin in a career high, as a newlywed who decides to leave his Jewish wife (Berlin) for an icy shiksa goddess (Shepard) . . . on their honeymoon. Working from a Neil Simon script, May fashioned the height of cringe-inducing comedy—imitated, remade, but never to be outdone. While this marvelously acerbic, fearless take on Jewish-American mores, expectations, and transgression received supporting Oscar nominations for Berlin’s devastating (and hilarious) take on the bride done dirty and Albert as Shepard’s rightfully suspicious patrician dad, Grodin’s charming snake was overlooked, despite—or because of—its being cinema’s preeminent master class in double-talking, short-circuiting male toxicity.   

Tickets: $15 / $11 senior and students / $9 youth (ages 3–17) / discounted for MoMI members ($7–$11). There is a $1.50 transaction fee per ticket for all online purchases. The cost of admission may be applied toward a same-day purchase of a membership. 

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