The defence The Popcorn Loyalist
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
Back to trending 
The Break-Up
Romance · Comedy · 2006
Pushed to the breaking-up point after their latest 'why can't you do this one little thing for me?' argument, Brooke calls it quits with her boyfriend Gary. What follows is a hilarious series of remedies, war tactics, overtures and undermining tricks – all encouraged by the former couple's friends and confidantes …and the occasional total stranger! When neither ex is willing to move out of their shared apartment, the only solution is to continue living as hostile roommates until one of them reaches breaking point.
Movie details
The Break-Up
“…pick a side.”
2006 Romance · Comedy 1h 46m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
5.9 / 10
Community rating
Pushed to the breaking-up point after their latest 'why can't you do this one little thing for me?' argument, Brooke calls it quits with her boyfriend Gary. What follows is a hilarious series of remedies, war tactics, overtures and undermining tricks – all encouraged by the former couple's friends and confidantes …and the occasional total stranger! When neither ex is willing to move out of their shared apartment, the only solution is to continue living as hostile roommates until one of them reaches breaking point.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over The Break-Up?
For the defence
The Popcorn Loyalist
“Big screen, big feelings, no apologies.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Big-Idea Head
“You watch with your brain, not your gut.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
The Seven Year Hitch
Romance · 2012
Jennifer and Kevin are childhood best friends who have lived together, platonically, as adults for many years. When Jennifer decides to marry her cheating, manipulative boyfriend, Bryce Kevin has to stop the wedding to protect her from making, what he believes is, a terrible mistake. With a little help from his brother and neighbor Kevin discovers that he and Jennifer are already legally married due to common law, having lived together for seven years and, as such, Jennifer can not marry Bryce.
All Over the Guy
Comedy · 2001
A contemporary romantic comedy exploring the unlikely pairing of two 20-somethings thrown together by their respective best friends in hopes of igniting their own romance.
Crossing Delancey
Comedy · 1988
Thirty-something Isabelle spends her time going from her tiny, solitary West Side apartment to that of her grandmother on the Lower East Side. While her grandmother plots to find her a romantic match, Isabelle is courted by a married, worldly author, Anton, yet can't seem to shake the down-to-earth appeal of Sam, a pickle vendor.
Speechless
Romance · 1994
In the midst of election season in New Mexico, political speechwriters Julia Mann and Kevin Vallick begin a romance, unaware they are working for candidates on opposite sides.
Straight Talk
Comedy · 1992
Honest and straightforward small-town Shirlee Kenyon chucks her boyfriend and heads for Chicago. Accidentally having to host a radio problem phone-in show, it is clear she is a natural and is hired on the spot. But the station insists she call herself Doctor, and as her popularity grows a local reporter starts digging for the truth. Problem is, the more he is around her the more he fancies her.
Addicted to Love
Comedy · 1997
Good-natured astronomer Sam is devastated when the love of his life leaves him for a suave Frenchman. He therefore does what every other normal dumpee would do — go to New York and set up home in the abandoned building opposite his ex-girlfriend's apartment, wait until she decides to leave her current lover, and then win her back.
Your Place or Mine
Romance · 2023
When best friends and total opposites Debbie and Peter swap homes for a week, they get a peek into each other's lives that could open the door to love.
Yoh! Bestie
Romance · 2026
Thando is perpetually unlucky in love, but when her bestie returns from his travels with a fiancée in tow, she's forced to face a new emotion — jealousy.
My Best Friend's Wedding
Comedy · 1997
When she receives word that her longtime platonic pal Michael O'Neal is getting married to debutante Kimberly Wallace, food critic Julianne Potter realizes her true feelings for Michael -- and sets out to sabotage the wedding.
The Rebound
Romance · 2009
Upon discovering her husband's infidelity, Sandy leaves the suburbs and moves into the city. There, she befriends Aram, a guy whose wife only married him so she could get a green card. Sandy hires Aram to be her nanny, and it isn't long until Aram and Sandy find out they get along wonderfully and start to date. But is their relationship real or is it, in fact, just a rebound for both of them?
Where it lives
Watch in your region.
Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.
Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.
Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Peyton Reed
Written by
Jeremy Garelick · Vince Vaughn · Jay Lavender
Vince Vaughn
Gary Grobowski
Jennifer Aniston
Brooke Meyers
Joey Lauren Adams
Addie
Cole Hauser
Lupus Grobowski
Jon Favreau
Johnny O
Jason Bateman
Riggleman
Judy Davis
Marilyn Dean
Court is in session
Put The Break-Up on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Big-Idea Head
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.