Heartbreakers - Why is this film not more popular?

I should point out that, as a guy, I'm generally not a fan of romantic comedies.  I prefer films with car chases, aliens invading New York and anything where the title ends in '...of the Living Dead.' However, 'Heartbreakers' is the absolute exception to that rule (and possibly 'Chasing Amy' and 500 Days of Summer').

Possibly one reason that it's about a million times better than your average 'boy meets girl' storyline, is that the 'romance' element always comes secondary to the 'heist' (or rather 'scam') element of the film.  A mother/daughter (Sigourney Weaver and Jennifer Love Hewitt, respectively) make their living from scamming wealthy men.  However, after taking part in one such escapade (at the expense of Sigourney's latest male victim, played by Ray Liotta), Jennifer Love Hewitt finally decides she's had enough of 'living in mother's shadow' and wants to go her own way in the world.  However, due to a mix up with their ill-gotten gains, they need to pull off one last 'score' before they part company.  This involves finding the most wealthy elderly man they can (a liver-spot clad Gene Hackman) and taking him for all he's worth before he coughs himself into an early grave.

And that's basically the plot.  Yes, there is a strong 'romance element' in there, but you'll probably see where that's going in both cases and - yes - it does succumb to every cliche associated with that genre.  However, as I said before, it never dwells on this side of the story, instead concentrating on clever dialogue and the brilliant performances of the leads.

Sigourney Weaver holds it all together and proves why she's still awesome, even when not slugging it out with xenomorphs.  It's worth seeing for her alone.  I know a lot of people criticise Jennifer Love Hewitt for her general acting ability (and I'm not saying whether that's true in other projects), but here, she does everything perfectly as the bratty, yet strangely endearing young con artist (and, for the lads, she wears mini dresses during almost every scene!).

The two women may be the stars, but they're backed up by some fine male performances, too.  Most people seem to agree that Gene Hackman is the one who comes closest from stealing every scene from Sigourney, but Ray Liotta seems to enjoy sending up the 'gangster-type' character he normally plays and Jason Lee was still charming in these days.

I remember when 'Heartbreakers' was first released in the cinema.  The critics' reaction was kind of 'meh' at the time.  I loved it when I saw it back then and I think it hasn't lost any of its charm over time.  I know you may have to suspend your disbelief a little bit when it comes to some of the ways the leads get away with things, but if you just forgive a few gaps in 'plot logic' and enjoy it for what it is, I really do think it's a great film that can be enjoyed by men and women (dare I say as opposed to the 'average' romantic comedy where men simply are forced to endure!).

9/10 almost as perfect as The Godfather