Couples Retreat (Universal)
Rated PG-13 on appeal for sexual content and language.
Starring Vince Vaughn, Jason Bateman, Faizon Love, Jon Favreau, Malin Akerman, Kristen Bell, Kristin Davis, Kali Hawk, Jean Reno, Tasha Smith, Carlos Ponce, Peter Serafinowicz, Temuera Morrison, Jonna Walsh, Gattlin Griffith, Colin Baiocchi, Vernon Vaughn, John Michael Higgins, Ken Jeong, Charlotte Cornwell, Amy Hill.
Written by Jon Favreau, Vince Vaughn and Dana Fox.
Directed by Peter Billingsley.
GRADE B-
REVIEW
They say even the strongest couples need a little therapy from time to time, and a nice vacation in a tropical paradise might be just the ticket for a some relationship maintenance. That's the premise for Couples Retreat, a new comedy from the guys who've matured a little since they teamed up as young Swingers more than 13 years ago.
Vince Vaughn stars as Dave, a devoted husband to Ronnie (Malin Ackerman) and video game developer of Guitar Hero. Dave and Ronnie's circle of friends include Joey and Lucy (Jon Favreau and Kristin Davis) Jason and Cynthia (Jason Bateman and Kristin Bell) and Shane (Faizon Love) who is recently divorced but dating 20-year-old Trudy (Kali Hawk) who he has known for only a few weeks.
All the couples show signs of marital trouble. Dave seems uninterested in Ronnie's domestic affairs, Joey and Lucy married right out of high school after a prom night conceiving of their first child, Shane isn't over his divorce while trying to keep up with his young girlfriend who calls him "Daddy," and the uptight Jason and Cynthia seem to be buried in structure, depending on Power Point presentations to communicate.
When Jason and Cynthia reveal their plans to divorce, they pressure the other couples to go in on a package deal for a tropical couples therapy resort as a last-gasp attempt to save their marriage (via a Power Point presentation). The couples reluctantly agree, but when they arrive in the beautiful paradise called "Eden," they discover their package deal is less of a vacation and more of a marital boot camp.
The program includes questionable diets, sessions with therapists, swimming with sharks, and some kinky yoga moves from a muscle-ripped instructor you won't see at your local community center.
As the couples immerse themselves in master therapist Marcel's (Jean Reno) radical program, old wounds surface, faults are exposed, and all four couples seem doomed to failure, including Jason and Cynthia, who were trying the hardest to improve their relationship.
In the end, all the couples engage in a lot of soul-searching until they re-examine their relationships and reconcile their differences.
In terms of comedy, Couples Retreat is very funny at times, mostly because of Vaughn, who anchors the all-star cast. Other notable performances include Kristen Bell, whose character shows the most development by the end of the movie, and the ever-sharp tongued Bateman as the control-freak husband who has lost his sense of passion.
The biggest flaw in Couples Retreat is its story, partially written by Vaughn and Favreau. The build-up from hidden marital problems into a couples therapy tempest fizzles by the end of the movie into a several life-altering monologues from some of the main characters. The story really gets weird when Shane's ex-wife magically appears in the final climactic scene without any real explanation as to how she got there. Shane's 20-year-old girlfriend is summarily jettisoned and the ex is back in the picture...very awkward.
Don't get me wrong. Some of the dialogue is vintage Vaughn/Favreau, and very funny. It just seems as though the aging swingers improvised much of the script on the beautiful tropic set. Maybe the sun got to them.
Speaking of the target audience, I'm not sure who will go and see Couples Retreat. It's clearly a story for couples, or at least people who've had some relationship experience, but the stars all have younger fan bases, including Vaughn. The twenty-somethings might like the party atmosphere, but the battle-tested couples of the world might not be drawn to the younger stars.
