Laugh-free 'Break-Up' is hard to do

Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston in 'The Break Up'

The Break-Up is not comical or romantic, and it's certainly not a date movie. Sitting through it is almost as painful as going through the demise of a relationship.

To watch two unsympathetic people squabble and snarl for almost two hours is about as grating it gets. Their quarrels come in two volumes: non-stop bickering and all-out screaming matches. If you have a taste for some good, vengeful sparring, then rent Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? or War of the Roses. If it's laughter you seek, skip The Break-Up.

The ads misleadingly present this as a wacky romantic comedy, but it's far grimmer. The romance is encapsulated during the opening credit sequence. Brooke (Jennifer Aniston) and Gary (Vince Vaughn) meet at a Cubs game. Overbearing Gary insists Brooke take a hot dog he has purchased. Then he lures her away from her date.

The two fall in love and buy a condo. They throw a dinner for their families, and their resentments bubble to the surface. If we had any idea what had drawn the characters together in the first place, we might care what happens when they break up. But we don't.

Neither character is terribly endearing. Gary, a Chicago tour operator, is immature and addicted to video games. Brooke, who manages an art gallery, is long-suffering and manipulative. Although Vaughn has some funny moments, he doesn't come close to the comic heights of last summer's Wedding Crashers.

A few supporting characters shine, however. John Michael Higgins almost steals the movie as Aniston's closeted brother. His scenes warbling with his a cappella choral group - The Tone Rangers - are among the movie's funniest. Judy Davis has some acerbically humorous moments as Brooke's eccentric boss. Jason Bateman is a hoot as the real estate-agent friend who won't waive his commission on the sale of their condo.

Most of the movie is about the couple digging in maliciously: Gary clings to the condo while Brooke schemes to get him back by making him jealous. It's not clear why she's bothering. If you value your time and your relationship, don't see this on a date.