In romantic movies, situations predictably unfold by: girl meets boy, sparks fly, small conflicts arise, and onto the happily-ever-after.

I really enjoyed watching The Break-up.  I have to say it’s the best romantic comedy of the 1st half of the year.  The script was well written –maybe the best script of the year for romantic comedies.

I especially liked the part where Aniston and Vince were arguing over the dishes and lemons.

Aniston: I busted my a** the whole day cooking dinner and you could have shown appreciation by just saying “Thank you honey, I’ll help you with the dishes.”

Vince: [throws the controller] Fine. I’ll help you with the dishes.

Aniston: You know what… never mind. I’ll do the dishes.

Vince: You just said you want me to help with the dishes.

Aniston: I want you to WANT to do the dishes.

Vince: Why should I have a strong desire to do the dishes?

This was a super funny scene.

It portrayed well the scenario when boy and girl are exhausted after another long day. …where the routine starts to drive them absolutely nuts… when all the little things that used to endear them to each other suddenly start to annoy each other. “…2 tickets please for The Break-up.” It was an amusing voyage into the unraveling and deconstruction of a once solid and loving relationship. The rumored off-screen couple [VV and JA] star in ‘The Break-Up,’ which starts where most romantic comedies end: after boy and girl have met, fallen in love, moved in to start their happily-ever-after… they realize the happily-ever-after is something to work for. I have reached that stage where you wind up driving each other crazy. Thank God we are way over that. Pushed to the breaking-up point after their latest “why can’t you do this one little thing for me?” argument, Aniston begins to realize that what she may be really fighting for isn’t so much the place but the person. This is Aniston’s best role yet and her delivery of the lines has improved to another level in this film.

The film was able to capture the anguish and distress that girls go through because some guys don’t grow up- they only grow old. He even said, “If I had my eyes closed, I could have sworn you were the one talking.” True enough, I have already lipped most of the lines that were said years ago.

The turning point, an hour and 30mins into the movie, was when Vince Vaughn surprised Aniston with a dinner that he carefully prepared. He apologized for all the times he took her for granted and said that he realized that he needed to change… and he needed to work on a lot of things. He said tearfully how much he loves Jen. She was taking in everything that Vince was saying… finally, the recognition of her efforts, presence and love… It took a while for Jen to reply… with tears in her eyes.

“I just don’t feel the same way anymore.”

Ka-boom. [08/01/06: I was talking to Carlo G this morning. That last line reminded him of our conversation last week. He teasingly said, “there’s legally blonde, now the break-up… your life is a movie.” I quipped, “But I’m always in the conflict part of a movie…”]

Sigh.

Do we really have to be at the brink of losing someone to realize the importance of that person in our lives? Some people are not lucky enough to meet that one person who can make them feel truly alive. Sometimes we never get to bump into that person that matches our life line –who can make you smile amidst all the trouble, who can make you feel your best and inspire you to be your best, that person you won’t ever let go and you would fight for, heaven and hell, who can laugh with you all day and no matter where you go, you manage to always have fun and create lifetime of memories forged only by a special bond… only a few lucky ones do. And it changes them forever