The Break-Up

A Chicago art dealer (Jennifer Aniston) impulsively dumps her tour-guide boyfriend (Vince Vaughn) and then tries to make him jealous so he’ll realize what he’s losing and shape up. Meanwhile, both of them refuse to move out of the condo they share. Aniston and Vaughn have their moments, especially in some sharply written arguments. But still the question nags: What the hell is this movie about? Moving on after a relationship goes wrong? Finding out you’re really in love and staying together? Kicking your roommate out of your condo? The script (by Jeremy Garelick and Jay Lavender, from a story by Vaughn) never decides; it seems merely to be about finding something for two appealing movie stars to do. There’s nothing wrong with a star vehicle, but the vehicle does have to go somewhere. Peyton Reed directs.