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Couples Retreat

Dang, this just wasn’t that funny. Vince needs to come on and bring quality like in Wedding Crashers.

Movie Details

Rated: R

Run Time: 1 hr 47 min

Release Date: 10/9/2009

Genre: Comedy

Writer: Jon Favreau, Vince Vaughn, Dana Fox

Website: Visit Website

Director: Peter Billingsley

Watch the Trailer

Synopsis

Four couples take a trip to paradise for a couples retreat to get a great group rate. They soon realize they must participate in the resort’s couple’s therapy, which is not an option. The main couple who cooked up the adventure is the only one who is excited to work on their marriage, while the others are truly taken aback. Begrudgingly, they all stay and attend the therapy sessions and the craziness begins. This comedy stars Vince Vauhn (Four Christmases), Jason Bateman (Hancock), Jon Favreau (Four Christmases), Faizon Love (The Perfect Holiday) and Kristin Davis (Sex and the City).

Review

You know, I like Vince Vaughn (Four Christmases, The Break Up) movies. He’s a really comical guy, but I’m royally let down with Couples Retreat. There are pockets of funny, but it just didn’t do it for me. The cast is good; yet don’t seem good together. They just don’t appear like they all would be such great friends. They're all kind of flat together. Just like five-day-old Pepsi.

Anyhoo, these good friends embark on a trip to a breathtaking island that’s known to be a couple’s therapy retreat for fun and sun except for couple Jason (Jason Bateman, Hancock) and Cynthia (Kristen Bell, Veronica Mars). They want to save their marriage by taking advantage of the therapy classes being offered. The other couples could care less about counseling. They only agreed to the trip because of a great group rate. The first night there, they all get played something fierce because the resort host Sctanley (Peter Serafinowicz, Run, Fat Boy, Run) breaks it down to them that they must all participate in the couple's therapy or they have to leave the island. What? I would be fit to be tied if I had no plans of attending classes when an exotic island is waiting for me to enjoy it. Who would want to leave paradise? I certainly wouldn’t and neither do the couples. So, the only choice they have is to cave in and partake of the therapy sessions. And the goofiness begins.

None of the characters I could relate to or even really liked except for maybe Vince Vaughn’s character Dave and his wife Ronnie (Malin Akerman, Watchmen). And I loved their one little son Kevin played by Colin Baiocchi (ABC’s Better Off Ted). He was adorable. I could have watched him in every scene. Oh, and Faizon Love ‘s (The Perfect Holiday) character, Shane was a cool dude. I loved watching him trying to keep up with his young irritating girlfriend Trudy.

Okay, I have to just say, why did they make the young sista named Trudy (Kali Hawk) sound like a fake hood-rat speaking fool? Every time she opened her mouth and spit out a sentence I cringed! I was thinking who in the world spoke like that. It was one of the worst accents I ever heard and it was oh so offensive and quite embarrassing to me.

Couples Retreat is straight up DVD quality, heck, even HBO or Showtime. If your used to the funny Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau kind of movies from the past, this film just doesn’t compete. Everything was so contrived, poorly structured and straight up predictable. I giggled a few times, but not with every scene. Just the scenes they show in the trailer and perhaps a couple more.


My Rating ~ 2 Reels

2 - Rent this movie on DVD when it comes out

Audience Rating (What's Yours?)