Quartile rating: 6/10 · 1 rating
Max and Page are a brilliant mother/daughter con team who have their grift down to a fine science. Max targets wealthy, willing men and marries them. Page then seduces them, and Max catches her husband in the act. Then it's off to palimony city and the next easy mark.
Heartbreakers is a breezy, moderately entertaining con-artist comedy carried largely by the chemistry between Sigourney Weaver and Jennifer Love Hewitt. The mother-daughter grift premise gives the film a fun hook and the plot moves along competently, though it follows a fairly predictable romantic comedy arc once Gene Hackman's tobacco tycoon enters the picture. The acting is enjoyable — Weaver is sharp and commits fully, Hackman is charmingly eccentric, and Ray Liotta has some funny moments — but nothing transcends the material. Visually it is flatly shot in a standard early-2000s studio comedy style with little cinematic ambition. The novelty of the con-duo dynamic and the satirical edge on gold-digging give it modest distinction over typical rom-coms. The ending wraps up too neatly and sentimentally, resolving tensions in a rushed, crowd-pleasing fashion that undercuts the sharper comic tone of the first act.