Couples Retreat (Universal Pictures)
A Surprisingly Enjoyable Movie
Couples Retreat is a surprisingly enjoyable movie. It isnt a hilarious film, nor is it one that scalds the screen with blue jokes. It is just a fairly mature look at four relationships and how they evolve over a few days at a couples retreat on an island paradise.
The four couples in the film are Dave and Ronnie (Vince Vaughn and Malin Akerman), Jason and Cynthia (Jason Bateman and Kristin Bell), Joey and Lucy (Jon Favreau and Kristin Davis), and Shane and Trudy (Faison Love and Kali Hawk). They each have a special relationship going into the couples retreat.
Dave and Ronnie are the most stable ones. They are married and are seemingly happy. Jason and Cynthia are the ones who organize the couples retreat because they are on the brink of divorce and want to save their marriage. Joey and Lucy are on the way out of their marriage. They are just waiting for their daughter to go to college and then they are splitsville. Shane and Trudy are not married. Shane is divorced and Trudy is his much younger girlfriend.
At the resort Jason and Cynthia have found, the couples get to enjoy the beauty and activities of an island paradise but they also have to go to couples counseling and take part in couple building events. The entire program is led by a guru named Marcel (Jean Reno).
Each individual reacts differently to the programs offered and the fun is seeing whose buttons get pushed, and how they react. Some of the actions and reactions are pretty predictable but some are not.
Vaughn and Favreau wrote the script along with Dana Fox, and Peter Billingsley (Ralphie in A Christmas Story) directed the film. The story is okay but it is the cast that livens things up. Vaughn and Favreau both attained stardom with Swingers in which they co-starred, and that same love/hate relationship they exhibited there still stands them in good stead as the two buddies in this movie.
Love also has some good scenes as Shane, the man who is looking for love but in all the wrong places. His frustration with not being able to keep up with his young girlfriend is totally believable, as is his heartbreak over losing his wife (Jennifer Smith).
Davis shows a different side of herself as the sexually voracious Lucy. When she spots hunky masseur Salvadore (Carols Ponce), she is ready to get into the game. Akerman on the other hand is relatively subdued as the faithful Ronnie.
Bateman and Bell are the two surprises in the film. Both of these actors have starred in a variety of roles so parts such as the ones they play here should come easy to them. As Jason and Cynthia the two actors fade into the background. They are overshadowed and out acted by the rest of the cast.
The film is rated PG-13 for profanity and some adult situations.
Couples Retreat is not the funniest movie of the year but it is easy to watch and enjoyable. You wont leave it raving but you should leave it with a smile on your face.
I scored Couples Retreat a paired up 7 out of 10.
