But they’re obviously called “cringe comedies” for a reason, and for this very reason I’ve never been a fan of the sub-genre. But of all the cringe comedies, the one I admire the most is Elaine May‘s The Heartbreak Kid (’72).
The 2007 Ben Stiller remake missed the mark but May’s original holds up. And this January ’23 tribute piece, voiced by CineMollusk, hits the nail on the head.
Carrying the narrative ball is Lenny Cantrow (Charles Grodin), “possibly the emptiest man on earth” and a guy who discovers with a startling jolt that he can’t stand his new bride (Jennie Berlin) as he watches her eat an overstuffed egg-salad sandwich…”a film with “an irredeemably black heart…a relentless examination of an empty world full of empty people.”
