Couples Retreat Review

Posted by Jeffrey Harris on 10.09.2009

Vaughn and Favreau deliver...

COUPLES RETREAT



Directed By: Peter Billingsley
Written By: Jon Favreau, Vince Vaugh, and Dana Fox
Runtime: 107 minutes
MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 on appeal for sexual content and language.

Dave - Vince Vaughn
Joe - Jon Favreau
Jason - Jason Bateman
Shane - Faizon Love
Ronnie - Malin Akerman
Cynthia - Kristen Bell
Lucy - Kristin Davis
Trudy - Kali Hawk
Jennifer - Tasha Smith
Marcel - Jean Reno
Sctanley - Peter Serafinowicz
Briggs - Temeura Morrison
Salvadore - Carlos Ponce
Therapist #1 - John Michael Higgins
Therapist #2 - Ken Jeong
Therapist #3 - Charlotte Cornwell
Therapist #4 - Amy Hill

Couples Retreat re-teams the Swingers duo of Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau. Favreau and Vaughn also collaborated for such cinematic gems as Made and The Break-Up and some slight misses like Four Christmases. The movie also marks the feature directorial debut for the one and only Ralphie of A Christmas Story, the greatest family movie ever, Peter Billingsley. Billingsley has been a producer partner and featured actor of Favreau and Vaughn's movies for several years, but he finally gets to direct here and he does a fine job.

Couples Retreat itself is an interesting statement and a landmark point for the evolution of the career of one Vince Vaughn. Vaughn broke out with the cult classic Swingers and then he started doing things like Jurassic Park and the much-maligned remake of Psycho in the role of Norman Bates. Then Vaughn suddenly seemed to find a successful niche in returning to R-rated comedies with Old School, Starsky And Hutch, and Wedding Crashers which were huge hits and modern comedic classics. Suddenly almost anything Vaughn touched would turn into fried gold dynamite. Vaughn formed a sort of stock character as a sarcastic, fast-talking, somewhat arrogant and self-absorbed know-it-all. But it seems from there Vaughn's movies seemed to become even broader in doing Fred Claus and Four Christmases which despite some sexual content are very basic, well done family films.

Couples Retreat despite its outrageous and comedic tone deals with real and down-to-earth themes in stale or failing marriages and couples that are on the rocks. Vaughn's video game producer, Dave, seems to be living a fairly stable and uneventful married life with his wife Ronnie (Akerman) and their two boys. Their friends on the other hand aren't doing quite so well. Dave's best friend Joe (Favreau), is on borrowed time with his marriage to Lucy (Davis), ready to split up as soon as their teenaged daughter whom they sired when they were teens themselves ships out to college. Their other buddy, Shane (Love), was horrendously dumped by his wife Jennifer (Smith), so in turn he picks up a young and wild piece of jailbait, Trudy (Hawk). Things come to a head when the group are ambushed in a powerpoint presentation by Jason (Bateman) and Cynthia (Bell). Jason and Cynthia are at their wit's end. Their marriage is falling apart due to the stress and tension in failing to have a child, so they've organized a group couples retreat at a ritzy tropical resort, Eden. Jason and Cynthia are aspiring to use the counseling at the resort to save their marriage and they need their friends to accompany them so they can afford the group rate. Dave and others are extremely reluctant to go forward with dropping everything and doing this crazy idea. Jason after breaking into Dave's home and begging Dave and Ronnie (since everyone else will go if Dave does) convinces them after Dave and Ronnie's kids overhear the story and are not wanting their parents to become unhappy and split up.

After arriving to the paradise like resort, the group are greeted by the eccentric Sctanley with a C (Serafinowicz of 66, Shaun of The Dead, Spaced, and Look Around You; he's also the voice of Darth Maul) who explains in order to stay there everyone must partake in the couples counseling course of the one Marcel (Reno). Marcel is a new-age, eccentric, and eastern-philosophy based counselor that encourages the couples to unleash their "animal spirits" in order to get the answers they seek in repairing their marriages. And as these flicks usually go, comedy and hijinx ensue.

Couples Retreat massively succeeds in featuring a talented, adult, and competent cast. The movie's incredibly entertaining but doesn't quite get to the heights of a Wedding Crashers or this year's The Hangover. Vaughn and Favreau as always have great chemistry and banter, and the ladies are more than game to keep up though they never really quite a chance to steal the show (Bell has one fantastic line early on about being 1/12 latina, but that's about it).

The main drawback is the pairing of Bateman and Bell. They simply aren't believable as a married couple. There's simply no chemistry there, even as a couple that's supposed to have a marriage on the rocks. Bateman's not exactly 20 years older than Bell or anything, but part of it might be that Bell looks like she could still pass as a college student or even a high school senior in this movie. Bateman has an interesting character work with an extremely over-efficient micro-manager that brings his own wife down with his micro-management, but he never quite seems to be able to get it off the ground. Bell tries really hard to make this work, but this problem seems to come more out of flawed casting and writing as this is easily one of the weakest relationships in the flick as well as having one of the least satisfying and un-earned conclusions.

The movie is littered with familiar funny faces and Vaughn/Favreau/Billingsley movie staples such as John Michael Higgins as Dave and Ronnie's therapist. Ken Jeong who seems to popping up in everything these days appears as the therapist for Jason and Cynthia, and gets a couple of the bigger laughs in the movie. Peter Serafinowicz is excellent as always as the stuffy and vigilant resort staffer, Sctanley. Serafinowicz gets a chance to shine in an amazing duel scene throwback with Vaughn that was freaking outstanding.

The 411: Couples Retreat is not the funniest movie you will see all year, but it manages to be a perfectly entertaining and enjoyable movie experience that's not insulting. The movie doesn't quite take the risks of the underrated The Break-Up, but manages to still use relevant and realistic themes and still finding the humor and comedy in them. And in its own way, Vaughn and Favreau have made these fun family movies that are actually quite sweet and touching.

Final Score:  8.0   [ Very Good ]