A glamorous mother and her sexy daughter use deceit and dirty tricks to defraud wealthy men in Heartbreakers, a comedy with very little heart and no soul at all. Although it’s fun watching the usually wonderful Sigourney Weaver camp it up as a Russian vamp in one sequence, her feminine wiles seem exaggerated in most other scenes. She doesn’t walk. She slinks instead --- then bats those eyelashes incessantly when turning her attention to a male target. It’s just too much! And Jennifer Love Hewitt needs more than low-cut, skimpy dresses to convince me she’s a scheming con woman. A little acting might have helped.

As Max, the statuesque Weaver (Galaxy Quest) plays a mother who shows not even a modicum of concern for her daughter Page (Hewitt from television’s Party of Five). In order to get a free hotel suite, she has no qualms about tripping Page in the lobby, thereby causing her to fall face-first on the marble floor. She also involves her daughter as "the other woman" in a series of marital scams. Max marries the mark, Page seduces him, and the bride collects a healthy settlement.

Heartbreakers treats men the same way last year’s Dr. T & the Women depicted the opposite sex. They all come across as idiots. Ray Liotta (Goodfellas) plays a lecherous groom with the same finesse Harpo Marx might bring to such a role. He lunges at his secretary, pours ice down his pants, and kills fish with a gun. It’s supposed to be funny, but I didn’t laugh once. And Gene Hackman, portraying an elderly tobacco tycoon, just serves as the butt of agist dialogue like "His liver spots are glowing all over." How the mighty Oscar-winner (The French Connection, Unforgiven) hath fallen!

Only Jason Lee (Almost Famous) emerges with any dignity amid all the nonsense. He’s quite believable as a sincere, good-natured bar owner who likes to stargaze on the beach. But even this character is too gullible for words. He falls for Page despite her foul mouth and nasty disposition. Does his goodness and trust win her over? Only when she finds out his property is worth $3 million. Like mother, like daughter --- at least until Page discovers true love and wants to reform. .

Juvenile humor prevails in this misguided farce directed by David Mirkin (who did such a great job helming the hilarious Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion). There’s much ado about the amount of phlegm produced by Hackman’s character and, in scenes painfully reminiscent of The Wedding Planner, about a statue with an oversized sex organ. Some people in the sneak preview audience actually chuckled whenever Weaver hit Hackman in the back of his skull to make him think he was having sharp head pains. To me, there’s nothing amusing about abuse like that, unless it’s among the Three Stooges.

After watching Heartbreakers, I felt an overwhelming urge to rent videos of The Grifters, The Sting, Shooting Fish, and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels --- all much better films about scam artists.

(Released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and rated "PO-13" for sex related content including dialogue.)