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The Break Up
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 The Break Up Production NotesTagline: ...pick a side.
In a romantic comedy, things typically unfold by a tried-and-true formula: boy meets girl, things go right, then just a little bit wrong, all on the way to happily-ever-after.
But what about when boy and girl are exhausted after another long day? When the routine starts to drive them absolutely nutty? When all the little things that used to endear them to each other start to just . . . really . . . annoy each other?
Enter The Break-Up . . . an unconventional romantic comedy that follows a couple's often comical, sometimes painful, but always entertaining journey into the unraveling and deconstruction of a once solid and loving relationship.
Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston star as Gary and Brooke, a couple who let a seemingly small argument escalate out of control and suddenly find themselves-after two years together-confronted with the choice between love and loss.
With the once happy couple standing their ground and refusing to move out of the condo they've shared and showered with attention, an all-out war of the exes breaks out. The Break-Up boasts an all-star supporting cast of friends and family who come to give Gary and Brooke advice and direction from every possible perspective.
On Gary's side are his best buddy Johnny O (Jon Favreau); his level-headed realtor Riggleman (Jason Bateman); and his brothers and business partners, quirky workaholic Dennis (Vincent D'Onofrio) and self-styled super-suave Lupus (Cole Hauser).
Advising Brooke are her stable sounding board Addie (Joey Lauren Adams); Addie's settled-down domesticated husband Andrew (Peter Billingsley); Brooke's flamboyant (but-not-gay!) brother Richard (John Michael Higgins), who delights in his all-male a cappella group The Tone Rangers; her well-meaning mom (Ann-Margret); and her oddball co-workers, fabulous and fearsome gallery owner Marilyn Dean (Judy Davis) and wide-eyed receptionist Christopher (Justin Long).
Following the well intended-but often misguided-advice from their collection of advisors, Gary and Brooke experiment with a series of schemes designed to either push the other one away or win them back. In this hilarious and surprisingly heartfelt comedy, they come to realize that, in matters of the heart, winning doesn't come from being the last one standing but from learning when to put the gloves down.
Building Up to The Break-Up
Actor/writer/producer Vince Vaughn was growing weary with the majority of romantic comedy scripts he received. They always seemed to have a subplot with clichéd wackiness of a couple in love going through some insurmountable task before they found their Hollywood ending. For years, he wanted to make “the anti-romantic comedy” and tell the story of love gone wrong. He believed that relationships were challenging and humorous enough without delving into a silly subtext, such as marrying someone in 10 days to get 10 million dollars.
The actor, who has starred in a string of highly successful films, including 2005's top-grossing comedy Wedding Crashers, as well as Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Dodgeball, Old School and Starsky & Hutch explains: “I wondered, what about a movie that's not really a traditional romantic comedy? I thought of the movie The Odd Couple and how it would be interesting to see two people go through a break-up, and the pains of a break-up, while living under the same roof. Comedy's always an over-commitment to the absurd. But I always like things based in reality.”
The idea was one that occupied Vaughn's attention for the next several years, but it wasn't until he met writers Jeremy Garelick and Jay Lavender that The Break-Up would start up. The first-time screenwriters had been working on their own treatment, a comedy script starring Vaughn. “It was August of 2001, and we wrote a script with Vince in mind,” recalls Lavender.
Lavender and Garelick sold their script for the “Vince Vaughn comedy,” which eventually crossed the desk of Vaughn's manager, who liked what he read. The writing partners found themselves in the same room as the actor/producer in December 2002 to discuss the project, but Vaughn had something else in mind. He revealed his idea for a “break-up movie” to the team, and by the end of the meeting, it was clear that the three were on the same comedy page and up to the challenge.
It would take a couple years for the project to gel, but in late 2004, they would spend three months at Vaughn's Los Angeles home/war room, collaborating 12 to 20 hours per day on the script. “We were living at Vince's house for three months,” laughs Garelick.
During the writing process, Vaughn, Garelick and Lavender would act out many of the scenes and improvise the dialogue. “There would be times when Vince would go off on a rant, and we could literally have five pages of material from that,” remembers Lavender.
Garelick and Lavender felt they really “found the movie” after digging into the script for those three months, and the writing partners credit Vaughn for shepherding the project and keeping the creative juices flowing. Says Lavender, “There isn't a part of this movie that Vince hasn't put his stamp on.”
With the script complete, Vaughn put on his producer's hat and shopped The Break-Up around Hollywood. Previously a producer on the 2001 crime comedy Made with teammate Jon Favreau, Vaughn would produce The Break-Up as the first film under his new production banner, Wild West Picture Show Productions. It didn't take long to find the right studio. After a 30-minute pitch meeting with Universal Pictures, the executives were sold.
Notes producer Scott Stuber, “Romantic comedy scripts are challenging, as few stories are able to take emotional risks and not lose the comedy. But after reading the script and meeting with Vince and the writers, it was clear this one was different and would make both a very funny and emotional film.”
Now that he had a studio on board, Vaughn's thoughts immediately turned toward a director. During discussions with the studio, the name Peyton Reed came up. Reed had directed the bubbly comedy-romance Down With Love, starring Renée Zellweger and Ewan McGregor, and the cult classic/cheerleading comedy Bring It On, with Kirsten Dunst.
“I liked Down With Love and what he did with the camera on that film. It had a fun pace to it,” relates Vaughn. “I met with Peyton and thought he was terrific-very funny and very smart.”
Reed read the script for The Break-Up and was immediately interested. “I loved the idea of working with Vince and telling a story about two people that, in the broadest sense, may be filed under `romantic comedy' in the video store but is absolutely not a typical romantic comedy,” offers Reed. “There was a sense of mystery to the script, too-are they going to end up together? That tension was interesting to me.”
The director acknowledges, “This genre has been around so long, people are always trying to come at it from different ways. What appealed to me about the script is that you're not watching a romance bloom; you're watching it die. A break-up is actually more universal than a romance that's working instantly.”
With Reed in place to helm the film, Vaughn called upon an old friend to fill out his producing team. Peter Billingsley, who in his early days played young Ralphie in the holiday classic A Christmas Story, has since become an accomplished film producer. Billingsley and Vaughn have known one another since a youthful meeting 15 years ago when acting together in a CBS Schoolbreak Special.
Years later, the two reunited to collaborate on Made, in which Billingsley served as a co-producer. Billingsley notes, “I was finishing up Zathura with Jon, and I was excited from the second I read this script.”
The story's departure from stereotypical romantic comedies interested not only the behind the scenes talent, but also actors to be cast in the film. Brooke Meyers herself, Jennifer Aniston, offers, “I loved that it wasn't one of those clichéd romantic comedies where everything gets wrapped up in a pretty little bow. It goes deep into the deterioration of a relationship, and it's not always rosy.”
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Vince Vaughn as tour guide Gary and Jennifer Aniston as art dealer Brooke in The Break-Up.
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