'The Heartbreak Kid'

Elaine May is pretty interesting. She's an improv comedian, who hooked up with Mike Nichols while a member of the renowned Chicago improv group, Second City.

Nichols would prove to be May's muse. This behind-closed-doors love-hate thing they've had going on has proved to be some kind of driving force for her career.

May directed The Heartbreak Kid. She's only directed four total films, including the awful Ishtar. The Heartbreak Kid is a Neil Simon play so it's the only film she directed, but didn't write.

May's career as a director is tenuous. If The Heartbreak Kid is her best, then you are on the outside looking in. However, she is a woman and there aren't many female directors and there are hardly any good female directors. So the fact that she's borderline bad, is good.

However, May's claim to fame -- in my book -- is her writing. She had a hand in Heaven Can Wait, Tootsie and Reds. She also co-wrote personal favorites The Bird Cage and Labyrinth, starring David Bowie as the baby-stealing Goblin King.

The Heartbreak Kid also seems significant because it's this celebrated, somewhat funny film about a guy who is a total asshole douchebag. Like a Woody Allen film starring Osama Bin Laden.