Friday
09Oct2009
Movie Review - 'Couples Retreat'
Friday, October 9, 2009 at 3:09AM | Couples Retreat
Starring Vince Vaughn, Jon Favreau, Jason Bateman, and Malin Akerman  |
What does it say about your scripted comedy when the funniest moments are clearly off-the cuff? The same does not hold true
for the Christopher Guest mockumentaries, which famously and daringly rely on the improvisational skills of their actors
rather than written dialogue, but for a comedy like Couples Retreat, it's a bad, bad sign.
Stars Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau have written scripts together before. Obviously, Swingers looks great by
comparison, but that was the work of younger, hungrier men who probably couldn't afford to go to Bora Bora on vacation, much
less to shoot a movie there.
And perhaps that's the problem. Maybe Vaughn and Favreau (though mostly Vaughn based on his work over the past several
years) just don't have the drive anymore because there's no need to be driven. Swingers required constant work to get
off the ground, and Couples Retreat required phone calls. It's more true than it isn't that musicians and songwriters
become sated once they reach the brass ring, and there's no reason that can't be true of actors, screenwriters, and
directors.
The film's plot is simple, although I confess it's so simple someone else should have thought of it first. That they didn't
is one of the few credits to Vaughn, Favreau and director Peter Billingley to be found. Yes, the idea is a breeding ground
for comedy: Four couples escape to an island paradise because one of them is seeking marital counseling. In their haste to
visit the tropics, the couples didn't realize that everyone on the island will undergo the same regimen of relationship
therapy. Hilarity, we presume, will ensue.
It doesn't. Or, more specifically, beyond what you may have seen in the commercials or trailers - which also wouldn't
qualify as "hilarity" - it doesn't. Yes, there are a few good lines or sight gags, but they don't serve the characters or
the story that well. It's a problem many comedies face, because the scripts are so bad there's nothing all that funny about
them. It is so easy to bring up The Hangover, which is about as perfect an example of a modern adult comedy as you'll
find. Everything funny in the movie is driven by the previous actions of the characters, and each subsequent funny thing
that happens builds more of a foundation for those characters. Sounds simple, right?
Instead, most comedies use their stories to bridge what they think will be the highlights, only they can't be because
they're so inorganic. That's why Couples Retreat can put two guffaws in the commercials: Those scenes can stand on
their own as being amusing, but 90 minutes of things that stand alone is exactly that.
Reader Comments (3)
i really like this cast as i saw many of them talents through The Break up (2006). it is nice to see many of them again in this comedy movie. though it seems like comedy one it goes in to deep of marriage life. i went to see it with my husband and we had great time. we also learn some thing from the movies.
source
http://www.80millionmoviesfree.com
I also learned something from the movie. Never to spend 10 dollars on a PG-13 comedy ever again.
You can watch it at http://www.hitflix.net for free.
I had to fill out some survey thing before the movie would play. It was one of Brad Pitt's best performances ever!