Elaine May achieves a delicate balance in her second film as director: The Heartbreak Kid is a bitter satire that plays like a whimsical romantic comedy. May's daughter Jeannie Berlin shines as Lila, who marries Lenny Cantrow (Charles Grodin) at the film's outset. The Jewish newlyweds drive from New York to Miami Beach for their honeymoon, where Lila's complete unselfconsciousness-and Lenny's repeated run-ins with WASP princess Kelly (Cybill Shepherd)-cause Lenny and his marriage to unravel. Grodin brings a delightfully awkward energy to this film, which J. Hoberman called “one of the darkest, funniest visions of Jewish assimilation to emerge from Hollywood.”