the problem with a movie like heartbreakers is that as hard as you try to concentrate on the notable qualities of the film -- the clever camerawork , the strong ensemble acting , the deft script -- every time jennifer love hewitt walks into a scene , her breasts take over . even my date noticed the blatant attempts by the filmmakers in drawing all attention to the chests of both sigourney weaver and hewitt . alas , all those breasts are never fully revealed -- like some bad 80's teen horror film censored by jerry falwell . despite the massive amounts of boob time in heartbreakers , the film delivers all the goods of a solid comedic vehicle . max ( weaver ) and page ( hewitt ) are a mother/daughter team who swindle rich guys out of their dollars in a con involving matrimony vows , extramarital trysts , and divorce settlements . sort of like a cross between anywhere but here and the grifters . with the irs hot on their proverbial tails , the duo team up for one last job , bilking cigarette tycoon william b . tensy ( gene hackman ) out of his cash . alas , during the con job , page ends up falling in love with a local bar owner ( jason lee ) , a dead body ends up in their trunk , princess leia shows up as a divorce attorney , and a jilted ex-husband ( ray liotta ) shows up waving a gun and advising group therapy for everyone . the glue that holds this familiar story together lies in the actors involved in the production . hackman delivers a memorable performance as the wheezing , hacking , brown-toothed william b . tensy . jason lee , one of the best young actors working in hollywood these days , brings a warm , subtle touch to his role of the lovelorn bar owner head-over-heels in love with page . weaver delivers another knockout comedic punch as the protective mother max . and hewitt actually pulls together a credible acting job despite the screen time she has to share with her breasts . the best work in the film is given by ray liotta , the most intense man ever to grace the screen . he has the uncanny ability to take one- or two-dimensional roles , in such films as cop land , hannibal , and no escape , and turn in an outstanding , memorable job . the only problem is that i'm still trying to forget about his roles in turbulence and muppets from space . despite the positives , heartbreakers does have its minor flaws . the " protective mother " scenario drags on for too long , and the complete and total ignorance of every male in the film over max and page's con jobs is a bit too hard to swallow . and not that i'm complaining , but who wears skintight dresses every day of the year ? in a nutshell , though , this is a love story . beneath all the lying , the cheating , the backstabbing , the hacking coughs , and the cleavage we find a familiar tale of true love . how sweet it is . 
