I remember seeing this movie when it first came out, and it always stuck with me. I rewatched it last night for the first time in decades, and I think my first impression as a teen is still pretty much my impression now. Charles Grodin plays a totally selfish person, Lenny Cantrow, who - unlike most of us - acts on every selfish impulse. He tries to kid himself into thinking he is a good unselfish person by giving his cast-off first wife all of the wedding presents and his car when the gash he's given her self esteem - telling her he wants a divorce after less than one week into a marriage and honeymoon, most of which he has spent with a Minnesota beauty on vacation (Cybil Shepherd as Kelly Corcoran) - is something that will likely never heal. Being older and a stepparent myself now, I could really relate to Eddie Albert's character, Kelly's father. He can smell Lenny's loopiness from a mile away, but how do you protect an adult daughter from a terrible fate - getting hooked up with someone like Grodin's character - that only time and wisdom can teach you to avoid. She doesn't have that wisdom yet.I always thought the second wedding scene sharing so many similarities with the first is basically saying that Lenny is going to go through life ruining other people's lives because he wants what he wants when he wants it, and worse, he will always convince himself he is not a bad guy when he walks all over people to get what he wants. Also you see just a smidgen of regret in his face after the ceremony as he talks in circles about his career plans to any wedding guest that will listen, suggesting that perhaps catching Kelly is not as satisfying as chasing her all of these months has been.Finally, I just have to tip my hat to director Elaine May. Somehow, in both 1971's "A New Leaf" and this film, she really knows how to make a female character annoying right down to the tone of voice and physical movements. She did it with her own character in A New Leaf and then did it with her own daughter, Jeannie Berlin, in this film as Lenny's first wife, Lila. Highly recommended.

I had seen Ben Stiller's 2007 remake of this film.It was nothing short of awful,but I thought to myself,surely the original,which I had not as yet seen,isn't this bad.I went with the film's basic idea,which was funny yet tragic in a way,and decided to see if it told the story better.Took a while to find it because I can never find it on television,and it isn't available through my video mailing service.Finally found it on the web and gave it a gander.Overall,I was impressed.It was perfectly casted from top to bottom.Who wouldn't fall in love with Cybill Shepherd? I also enjoyed Eddie Albert as the "rich brick wall" of a father to Cybill's character.I did feel bad for the Grodin's bride and I do wish that they hadn't left her fate so open ended.The moral of the story is clear;Don't marry someone just because you are in a hurry to settle down.Sometimes true love takes a while.Wait for it.

Charles Grodin strangely never seems to have attained stardom despite having given a number of excellent performances, such as the one in this film. 'The Heartbreak Kid' ( 1972 ) casts him as 'Lenny Cantrow', an ex-army man who falls for and marries over-affectionate Jewish girl Lila ( Jeannie Berlin ). On their Miami honeymoon, she comes to irritate him. Asking him whether he loves her at every opportunity, and making a a pig of herself by eating egg salad in a restaurant.When she gets a bad case of sunburn, he leaves her in their room while he goes to the beach alone. Here he meets beautiful college student 'Kelly Corcoran' ( Cybill Shepherd ). They get friendly, and he gradually realises he made a big mistake marrying Lila. After a quickie divorce, he goes off in search of Kelly. But there is an obstacle in his way - her cantankerous ( and rich ) father Dwayne ( Edward Albert )...This is a wonderfully witty comedy, superbly directed by Elaine May ( also responsible for the 1971 Walter Matthau film - in which she also acted - 'A New Leaf' ). The performances are uniformly excellent, particularly Grodin and Berlin ( okay, so she's May's daughter, but so what? Why has she not had as good an acting role as this since? ), and Albert is suitably fearsome as Kelly''s dad ( if this had been made thirty years before the role probably would have been played by Spencer Tracy ). He gets most of the best lines. On hearing Lenny's pretentious comments about dinner, for instance, he remarks: "No deceit in the cauliflower? Where do you get ideas like that?". It should come as no surprise that this is the work of the great Neil Simon. He has sometimes come a cropper writing directly for the big screen ( 'The Cheap Detective', for instance ), but his work here is top-notch. Shepherd looks good enough to eat as 'Kelly'. The ambiguous ending suggests that Lenny is more interested in the chase than in the ( for wont of a better word ) kill. Perhaps he and Kelly broke up after only a few months of married life, and he went after some other girl.Funniest moment - Lenny and Lila are in a restaurant. He is trying in a roundabout way to tell Lila that he wants out of the marriage. She misunderstands, and thinks he is dying!

Lenny Cantrow and Lila Kolodny are a newlywed Jewish couple.During their honeymoon in Florida he meets this tall blonde, Kelly, and realizes he's made a terrible mistake.Now he wants to have an instant divorce and get together with this attractive gentile.Another problem is the girl's father who can't stand this guy.Elaine May, the former sidekick of Mike Nichols is the director of The Heartbreak Kid (1972).Its writers are Bruce Jay Friedman (story) and Neil Simon (screenplay).What a wonderful and funny comedy this is! Charles Grodin does a performance of a lifetime as Lenny.Same thing with Jeannie Berlin as Lila, who's Elaine May's daughter.Cybill Shepherd portrays Kelly Corcoran in a memorable way.And so does Eddie Albert as her father.Audra Lindley is wonderful as her mother.Doris Roberts does a small role as Mrs.Cantrow.Grodin's character is somewhat likable even though he acts like a real jerk.You can't help but feel sorry for this man.I mean, this gorgeous college girl wants him! But still, what he does is wrong.Leaving his wife, his beautiful and sweet wife like that is just wrong.But in the last image of the film you can see some kind of regret on the man's face.He's just married Kelly and he starts humming Close To You, that was played on his wedding with Lila.This movie made me laugh several times.Like the time Lenny lays out all his cards for Kelly's dad wanting to marry his daughter.Guess twice how the old man feels about that.The Heartbreak Kid is a real treat.Everybody should see it.