Breaking Up (1997)

Director:

Robert Greenwald

Writers (WGA):

Michael Cristofer (play)
Michael Cristofer (screenplay)

Release Date:

17 October 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

When the sex is great. When the passion is intense. When the love is strong. It's time for... breaking up.

Plot:

Monica teaches, Steve's a photographer. They've dated more than two years. They're arguing, and she leaves for her apartment...

Plot Keywords:

Anger | Apartment | Desire | Break Up | Discussion

Cast

Russell Crowe	...	Steve
Salma Hayek	...	Monica
Abraham Alvarez	...	Minister
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Carlo Corazon	...	Gym Trainer (day dream sequence) (uncredited)
Marty Granger	...	Steve's date - kissing (uncredited)
Mary Ann Schmidt	...	Dream Scene Fitness Model (uncredited)

Directed by
Robert Greenwald

Writing credits (WGA)
Michael Cristofer		(play "Breaking Up")
Michael Cristofer		(screenplay)

Produced by
Cas Donovan	....	associate producer
Brad Gordon	....	associate producer
Robert Greenwald	....	producer
David Matalon	....	executive producer
Arnon Milchan	....	executive producer
George Moffly	....	producer
Craig Thurman Suttle	....	line producer

Original Music by
Mark Mothersbaugh

Cinematography by
Mauro Fiore

Film Editing by
Suzanne Hines

Casting by
Ronnie Yeskel

Production Design by
Terrence Foster

Set Decoration by
Karen E. Burnett

Costume Design by
Kelly Zitrick

Makeup Department
Ermahn Ospina	....	key hair stylist
Ermahn Ospina	....	key makeup artist
Noelle Thurin	....	makeup artist (as Deborah Noelle Thurin)

Production Management
Andy Clark	....	unit manager: New York
Philip K. Kleinbart	....	executive in charge of production
George Moffly	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Cas Donovan	....	assistant director
Amy Schmidt	....	assistant director

Art Department
Michelle Fort	....	scenic artist
Mark Hurtado	....	storyboard artist
Charles Miller	....	construction foreman
Paul A. Still	....	construction coordinator
Tim Woodruff	....	property master: Los Angeles

Sound Department
Felipe Borrero	....	production sound mixer
Thomas Chan	....	sound post-production coordinator
Dee Dee Davis	....	sound post-production coordinator
Al Decker	....	sound effects editor
Bruce Greenspan	....	dialogue editor
Kurt Kassulke	....	sound re-recording mixer
William Kozy	....	sound recordist: New York
Mark Linden	....	sound effects editor
Paul Ratajczak	....	sound re-recording mixer
Paul Ratajczak	....	supervising sound editor
Paul Tinta	....	foley recordist
Joe White	....	boom operator
Kerri Wilson	....	adr editor
Kerri Wilson	....	adr recordist

Camera and Electrical Department
Steven A. Adelson	....	Steadicam operator
Andrew Blauner	....	best boy electric: New York
Darwin Montana Browne	....	key grip
Al Bruce	....	electrician
Kelly Clear	....	camera operator
Edmundo Gonzales	....	electrician
Marty Granger	....	still photographer
Ted LeHane	....	third grip
Tony Olivieri	....	first assistant camera: "b" camera
Kevin Sanders	....	best boy
Susanna Virtanen	....	first assistant camera

Casting Department
Joyce Kurtz	....	adr voice casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Michael Castellano	....	costume supervisor
Niamh Murphy	....	costume intern

Editorial Department
Charles Jevremovic	....	editor: video sequence
Steve Johnson	....	colorist
C.L. Monrose	....	editor: video sequence

Music Department
Bruce Young Berman	....	musician: guitar
Marcella Detroit	....	composer: song "You're History"
Marty Flores	....	musician: percussion/drums
Larry Klimas	....	musician: Flute/saxophone
Paul Morin	....	musician: bass
Mark Mothersbaugh	....	musician: keyboards/mallets
Kim Naves	....	music editor
Ralf Rickert	....	musician: trumpet/clarinet
Alex Steyermark	....	music supervisor
Hope Sugarman	....	music supervisor: New Regency

Other crew
Gerard Averill	....	location manager
Andy Clark	....	location manager: New York
Jean Costello	....	production coordinator
Wendy Cutler	....	adr loop group
Dana Eshghi	....	unit production coordinator
Marilyn Frandsen	....	type design
Malcolm Groome	....	adr loop group
Chiemi Karasawa	....	script supervisor: New York
Joyce Kurtz	....	adr loop group
Reid Nicholson	....	production assistant
Jason Ninness	....	assistant production coordinator
Paul Pape	....	adr loop group
Deborah Ross	....	title designer
Jill Sprecher	....	production coordinator: New York
Cheryl Starbuck	....	script supervisor
Ken Rudolph	....	title designer (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Greenlight Productions
• New Regency Pictures
• Regency Enterprises
• Warner Bros

Distributors

• Argentina Video Home (Argentina) (video)
• Warner Bros
• Warner Bros. (Argentina)
• Warner Home Vídeo (Brazil) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)

Also Known As:

"Turning Love" - Japan (English title)

MPAA:

Rated R for language and sexuality

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Finland:S (video premiere) | France:U | Germany:12 | UK:15 | USA:R | Australia:M | Iceland:L | Singapore:NC-16 | Hungary:14

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Greenlight Productions

Quotes:

Steve:I'm going crazy...
Monica:See, that's different! I thought it was your everday garden-variety existential crisis. But crazy is different.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election (2002)

Soundtrack:

COME TO ME

Even Russell Crowe is entitled to a clunker

Steve is a photographer, Monica is a teacher. They don't get along. So it's time for them to break up. Watching two people try to break up for nearly two hours (fortunately, that included lots of commercials) is not my idea of entertainment. Unless they are funny, which these two generally were not.

The film showed promise. At the start, both characters are talking to an unseen interviewer or counselor, or maybe just to the camera (they also talk just to the camera in a later scene). They are giving good performances at that point. Then things go downhill quickly.

The film was not a total waste of time.

The best part of the movie had Steve and Monica doing what appeared to be a documentary, shot in black and white, where they interviewed ordinary people on the street about male-female relationships. These people seemed real and may in fact have been real (they certainly weren't shown in the credits). One little girl said the best thing to do with a man was 'dump him in the garbage'.

Also good: a sequence of fantasies about what the wedding might be like, inside a church, involving a demented minister, an Einstein lookalike, and Steve and Monica both lying on couches with a psychiatrist between them.

Salma Hayek looked good in a swimsuit. Too bad that was only in a fantasy (Steve's, actually) where a Fabio type with Schwarzenegger muscles was bench pressing her.

Several scenes had really good music, most of the good music being real jazz. There was also 40s-style easy listening. And then there was contemporary music that didn't appeal to me at all. (Well, what can you expect when the man in charge of music led Devo?) One scene was spoiled for me when the trumpet and the stand-up bass were cut off prematurely when the couple started bickering again.

I'm not sure what this meant, but several sequences other than the 'documentary' were filmed in black and white with no dialogue from the characters on screen. Two had quick editing and gave the impression of quality. One had Steve and Monica in a restaurant with a series of different dates, in what appeared to be just a few minutes as the camera went back and forth between them.

The only way this could have been a good movie is if it was in fact one of those art films that appeals to the people who go to coffee houses and listen to poetry. I'm not one of those.