After many years redefining the paradigms of American comedy along with Mike Nichols on the New York stage, Elaine May made the jump to the movie business when she appeared as an actress in some late 60s cinematic endeavors, including Mike Nichols' The Graduate. It wouldn't take long for her to branch out and, by 1971, she was writing, directing, and starring in A New Leaf.
In our last piece about this intrepid artist, we looked at that movie and how May's genius was able to transcend the interference of pushy producers and remain a near-masterpiece. This time, we'll be looking at the picture May directed after that flick, a production that suffered much less interference from panicky executives. It's also the only picture May directed she didn't also write and the single one of her movies to ever be nominated for the Academy Awards.
We're, of course, talking about the Neil Simon-penned The Heartbreak Kid…
The protagonist of May's second movie may not have any murder plans going on in his sick head, but he's no less repulsive than Henry Graham. He's Lenny Cantrow, a newlywed played by the director's greatest muse, Charles Grodin. On his Floridian honeymoon, the Jewish New Yorker meets a WASPy younger woman and promptly decides to leave his wife for her.
Misogynistic to the extreme, the basic plot of The Heartbreak Kid is nonetheless twisted into something uglier and more feral by the way May chooses to present it. She straps us into Lenny's mind, turning his wife, played by May's real-life daughter Jeannie Berlin, into a creature of revulsive candor and annoying habits, and making his petty whining be delivered with total sincerity and not a drop of self-awareness. It's a cruel affair, but the final product is a jewel of corrosive social critique, caustic humor at its most unforgiving and a character study made of equal parts empathy and hate.
The cast is of particular excellence, with Grodin the perfect vessel for May's vision, while Berlin explodes with searing humanity and Cybill Sheppard gives life to a mirage of youthful splendor. Berlin went on to be nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her work, while Eddie Albert, as Sheppard's curmudgeon father, conquered a Supporting Actor nod.
Unfortunately, this is the only Elaine May-directed feature that's not currently available to stream at the moment. That said, someone uploaded it to Youtube, so you can find it there. This is a film that deserves to be watched in all its upsetting glory.
[For more on this film, check out last year's Smackdown episode about 1972]