charles grodin and cybill shepherd star in this off beat comedy that end up be more dramatic and poetic than funny . charles grodin have always be on the border line when it come to be funny and serious . much of his comedy career have be play serious and his dramatic appeal be sometimes hilarious . unlike chaplin and keaton or the marx brother and grodin punchline be not necessarily funny . most of the time and the outcome of the joke or hilarious situation turn into a political or ethical realization . grodin character be likable but by the end of the movie you either lose total interest in the character or you become so attached to him that you feel bad during the final frame of the story . in many way and grodin resemble a young w. c. field character where you hope for his achievement in the relationship with cybill shepherd and his family . then again and grodin put himself into situation where he be the butt of the joke and the victim of the circumstance . a wonderful movie and make before it time . the heartbreak kid be a story about a middle age kid ( much like field ) who be in need of get his heart break .