Original Soundtrack - Music From The Motion Picture: The Heartbreak Kid (CD)

All Music Guide

Ben Stiller's movie roles are rarely serious, so perhaps it's appropriate that the soundtracks to his comedies are similarly silly. The Heartbreak Kid marks Stiller's first collaboration with the Farrelly brothers since 1998's There's Something About Mary, whose accompanying soundtrack mixed enduring pop classics with such modernday torchbearers as the Dandy Warhols. Stiller's new soundtrack follows suit, with a pair of celebrated David Bowie songs ("Suffragette City" and "Ashes to Ashes") laying the foundation for contributions from Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs ("Different Drum," from the duo's stellar covers album in 2006), John Alagia (who, as a producer, has helmed most projects by the Dave Matthews Band), and folk duo the Weepies. Most of the album's inspired material has already been released elsewhere, making The Heartbreak Kid little more than a wideranging mix tape of poprock. The exception is the contribution from Oklahoma bizarros the Flaming Lips, who've penned two originals for the film. Fall 2007 also saw the release of Good Luck Chuck, another romantic comedy whose soundtrack featured the band, but the Flaming Lips seem to have saved their most madcap compositions for Stiller and company. "The Tale of the Horny Frog" opens the soundtrack like a Mariachistyled drug trip before segueing into a whimsical campfire cadence, and while the rest of the album can't compete with that sort of zaniness, the Lips make another appearance with the similarlystyled "Maybe I'm Not The One." Both songs have a Mexican lilt, an influence that's unfortunately absent from the rest of the soundtrack. Still, they're good enough to save the album from the bargain bin, as fans of the band won't want to pass up these cinematic numbers.

- Andrew Leahey , All Music Guide