Common Sense Media Review
By Barbara Shulgasser-Parker
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Predictable romcom has sexism, language, drugs.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 14+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
The Heartbreak Agency
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
In THE HEARTBREAK AGENCY, Maria (Rosalie Thomass) runs an empire that helps people get over heartbreak. She's all over the news touting self-compassion. Sneering journalist Karl (Laurence Rupp) decides to write a scathing piece about her after his girlfriend informs him that she is done with their unsatisfying "relationship" because it is nothing more than "sex with benefits." Somehow Karl's piece runs without being vetted and the magazine's editor is furious about its "patriarchal stereotypes." Karl feels justified because the guys in his office high-five him for defending bad male behavior and for mocking whiny, emotional women. But in the real world, the piece is roundly criticized for its misogyny -- and it gets him fired. To get his job back, he proposes writing another piece, a nicer one, about Maria's work. She agrees only if he submits to the full treatment at her luxe therapeutic live-in retreat, complete with group therapy and one-on-one sessions. Karl scoffs during group therapy and jokes rudely. He contradicts Maria's professional advice and upends the treatment of other lovelorn clients. Can Maria change Karl's mind?
Is It Any Good?
Many moments in The Heartbreak Agency are sweet and involving, but to get to them, we are asked to believe a self-centered boor has had a complete personality transplant. A cruel, insensitive guy becomes sweet and caring out of nowhere. Once the transplant takes effect, he is good company, but how did he get there? Karl's obliviousness to the needs of women echoes the popular Barbie movie's portrayal of men as clueless boobs, but Karl is several steps worse. He actively disdains any emphasis on or investigation of human feelings as a weak feminization of the world he lives in. In contrast, Maria is caring and generous, even treating some clients without charge.
Additionally, the world created here bears little resemblance to reality. How did the piece run in the magazine without an editor reading it first? And why is it that when people can't reach each other by phone to deliver important information, they don't text? There is no doubt how this will end, either.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the plausibility of the personality transitions the characters undergo. Does nice, kind Karl of the movie's second half bear any resemblance to the difficult, sneering, arrogant, unlikable Karl of the film's early scenes?
When Karl does suddenly become nice enough to attract Maria, does it seem surprising that she doesn't question why she's falling for him?
What does the movie say about relations between men and women? How does it repeat or differ from other pop culture depictions of attitudes men have about women and vice versa?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : February 14, 2024
- Cast : Rosalie Thomass , Laurence Rupp
- Director : Shirel Peleg
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Netflix
- Genre : Romance
- Run time : 94 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : April 2, 2024
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