Review: Couples Retreat
October 8, 2009 by admin
Filed under Movie News
Couples Retreat
“Couples Retreat“ tells the story of four troubled couples and how they’re healed by sitcom formulas. Why are they troubled? Because the script says so. It contains little comedy, except for free-standing one-liners, and no suspense, except for the timing of the obligatory reconciliation. It doesn’t even make you think you’d like to visit its island paradise.
The couples are apparently all from Buffalo Grove, which supplies nothing visual except for a T-shirt. Three of them think they’re reasonably happy, but their friends Jason (Jason Bateman) and Cynthia (Kristen Bell) beg them to join them for a week at a resort devoted to healing relationships (if four couples go, it’s half price).
Jason and Cynthia are anguished because they haven’t had a child. The other couples are Dave (Vince Vaughn) and Ronnie (Malin Akerman); Joey (Jon Favreau) and Lucy (Kristin Davis), and Shane (Faizon Love) and Trudy (Kali Hawk). Their troubles: (1) Parenting duties distract from romance; (2) Joey’s wandering eye; (3) Shane has split from wife and is dating a 20-year-old bimbo.
They fly to the Eden resort, which uses locations on Bora Bora, a truly enchanted place that’s reduced to the beach-party level. Eden is run by Monsieur Marcel (Jean Reno), a martial-arts mystic, and managed by Cstanley (Peter Serafinowicz), who explains his name is spelled with a “C.” Other staff include Salvadore (Latin pop singer Carlos Ponce), doubling for a model on the cover of a lesser romance novel.
The formula itself might have supported hilarity, but the story lacks character specifics. Each couple behaves relentlessly as an illustration of their problem. The movie depends for excitement on a shark attack during a scuba-diving exercise, featuring clueless sharks and an enormous pool of blood apparently leaked from a tiny superficial scratch. Salvadore charms the wives somewhat ambiguously with his oiled pecs and bottles of pineapple-rum drinks. The men don’t bond as much as stand together onscreen and exchange bonding dialogue.
There is a twin resort named East Eden, which has all swinging singles, as opposed to troubled couples. It’s a party scene every night; as nearly as I could tell, our four couples are the only clients on West Eden, so no wonder there was a 50 percent off deal, despite Cstanley’s talk of the long waiting list.
Among the better things in “Couples Retreat,” I count Vaughn’s well-timed and smart dialogue; the eccentricity of Love and Hawk in contrast to the cookie-cutter couples, and Serafinowicz’s meticulous affectations, which suggest psychotropic medication.
The concluding scenes are agonizing in the way they march through the stages dictated by an ages-old formula. We know all four couples must arrive at a crisis. We know their situations must appear dire. We expect a transitional event during which they realize the true nature of their feelings. This is a wild party night at East Eden. We expect sincere confessions of deep feelings. And we know there must be a jolly conclusion that wraps everything up.
In the context of the film, the jolly conclusion must be seen to be believed. Were all the transitional events anticipated, even planned, by the the all-seeing Monsieur Marcel? Marcel hands each couple an animal representing their true inner animal spirits. These figures are carved from a dark wood, which I deduced after seeing the second, third and fourth animals. The first was a rabbit, which looked like nothing else than a chocolate bunny. That would have been strange.
Source: suntimes
Review 2: “Couples Retreat”
A Universal release presented in association with Relativity Media of a Wild West Picture Show/Stuber Pictures production. Produced by Vince Vaughn, Scott Stuber. Executive producers, Victoria Vaughn, Guy Riedel. Co-producer, Jon Isbell. Directed by Peter Billingsley. Screenplay, Jon Favreau, Vince Vaughn, Dana Fox.
Dave – Vince Vaughn
Jason – Jason Bateman
Joey – Jon Favreau
Shane – Faizon Love
Lucy – Kristin Davis
Ronnie – Malin Akerman
Cynthia – Kristen Bell
Briggs – Temuera Morrison
Marcel – Jean Reno
Trudy – Kali Hawk
“Couples Retreat” is one of those movies that makes moviemaking look like the luckiest job in the world. Those involved got to spend weeks at a Bora Bora luxury resort; all we get is this not lousy but unmemorable tropical-vacation comedy. Reuniting several frequent past collaborators (most notably “Swingers” alums Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau), the tale of four couples at a relationship workshop in an exotic locale has a good premise, an appealing cast and some bright ideas that only fly so high due to pedestrian execution. Still, pleasant-enough results should earn solid midrange B.O. numbers.
After a nice opening-credits montage of couples imagery since cinema’s beginning, we’re introduced to various Illinois duos. Dave (Vaughn) and Ronnie (Malin Akerman) have a happy, slightly chaotic household with two young sons and a normal amount of stress. On the other hand, former high school sweethearts Joey (Favreau) and Lucy (Kristin Davis) are just hanging on until their daughter’s imminent departure for college, at which point they’ll gladly separate.
Shane (Faizon Love) has recently divorced the wife he could never please (Tasha Smith) and taken up with 20-year-old wild thang Trudy (Kali Hawk). She calls him “Daddy” — which, indeed, he might be mistaken for. And though they seem perfect for each other, persnickety pair Jason (Jason Bateman) and Cynthia (Kristen Bell) drop a bombshell: After eight years’ wedlock undone by failure to conceive, they worry they aren’t soulmates after all.
Determined to give it one last shot, Jason and Cynthia have found a program — at the alluring Eden Resort, billed as “Disneyland for adults” –that could salvage their relationship. Trouble is, they can only afford the group rate. They beg the others to sign on, promising them they can enjoy fun in the sun while Cynthia and Jason work on “renewing bonds.”
Upon arrival, Eden (actually the St. Regis in Bora Bora) proves duly idyllic, and the inevitable tourist shots of its splendid setting come as a relief after thesp-turned-producer-turned-first-time-director Peter Billingsley’s blah-looking first reel. But world-famed “couples whisperer” Marcel (Jean Reno) has a program in store that’s much more intensive than expected. Far from being allowed to snorkel, doze and work on their tans, the couples are expected — even demanded — to rise at dawn for “skill-building exercises” that are like a kind of New Age boot camp. These push the central duos — and the friendships between them — to near-breakup points.
While the inevitable happy endings are orchestrated with just enough finesse to satisfy, elsewhere “Couples Retreat” wobbles. The screenplay (credited primarily to Favreau, with Vaughn and Dana Fox billed beneath), sports a fair number of good throwaway lines but could be a lot sharper overall.
Billingsley’s workmanlike helming delivers a couple of hilarious scenes; the PG-13 pic’s raunchiest moments include a frustrating erotic-massage interlude for Lucy and Joey, and a sexually inappropriate yoga class taught by hunky Salvadore (Carlos Ponce). Yet elsewhere, the helmer impresses too little imagination or personality, failing to blend seriocomic tones that occasionally tumble into the heavy-handed, maudlin or cloying (via some horribly precocious child-actor moments).
Pic moves briskly but, at 113 minutes, clocks long for a mainstream comedy; more inspiration in tech/design departments would have been welcome. Thesps remain amiable, even if all have been deployed to greater advantage elsewhere — the exception being relative newcomer Hawk, whose character is a giddy party-hearty contrast to the older principals, and whose performance is a consistent hoot.
More than one option
* (Person) Victoria Vaughn
Actor
* (Person) Victoria Vaughn
Executive Producer, Associate Producer
More than one option
* (Film) Meeting Daddy
* (Tv) Daddy
* (Tv) Danielle Steel’s “Daddy”
* (Tv) Those She Left Behind
More than one option
Couples Retreat
* (Person) Carlos Ponce
Song, Song Performer, Actor
* (Person) Carlos Ponce
Transportation, Transportation Coordinator, Transportation Captain
Camera (color), Eric Edwards; editor, Dan Lebental; music, A.R. Rahman; music supervisor, John O’Brien; production designer, Shepherd Frankel; art directors, Curt Beech, Clint Wallace; set decorator, Daniel B. Clancy; costume designer, Susan Matheson; sound (DTS/SDDS/Dolby Digital), Steve Cantamessa; supervising sound editor, Terry Rodman; re-recording mixers, Steve Pederson, Brad Sherman; assistant director, Rip Murray; casting, Sarah Halley Finn. Reviewed at Century 9, San Francisco, Oct. 6, 2009. MPAA Rating: PG-13. Running time: 113 MIN.
With: Tasha Smith, Carlos Ponce, Peter Serafinowicz, John Michael Higgins, Ken Jeong, Charlotte Cornwell, Amy Hill, Jonna Walsh, Gattlin Griffith, Colin Baiocchi, Vernon Vaughn, Janna Fassaert, Xavier Tournaud, Paul Boese.
Source: variety
Review 3: “Couples Retreat”
What we have here is a failure to communicate. Well, that and other problems for a bunch of suburban Chicago couples, including Jason (Jason Bateman) and Cynthia (Kristen Bell), whose inability to conceive has them contemplating divorce. The solution? Rounding up their friends (Vince Vaughn/Malin Akerman, Jon Favreau/Kristin Davis, Faizon Love/Kali Hawk) and heading to an exotic Bora Bora resort for sun, sand and extensive couples therapy.
The buzz: It’s been years since Vaughn (“Four Christmases,” “Fred Claus,” “The Break Up”) delivered a funny movie. But this is a solid cast and Vaughn wrote the script with his ol’ pal Favreau (“Swingers”), so this “Retreat” has at least gotta be better than terrible. Probably.
The verdict: Populated with people you would never, ever want to go away with, “Couples Retreat” is far too angry to entertain and about as funny and romantic as a baggage claim. A few laughs come from the sidelines (thanks to John Michael Higgins and Ken Jeong as unusual therapists), but the pain comes from Vaughn and Favreau’s smug performances and a script that bounces between annoyingly insincere therapy sessions and wacky, unfunny situations that attempt to lighten the mood. (No dice.) The scenery makes you want to be somewhere other than a movie theater, and the movie has the same effect.
Did you know? Vaughn’s character’s son urinates in a store toilet, explaining that, “It looks like a real toilet to me.” You just can’t argue with that logic.
Review 4: Couples Retreat
Comedy about four couples who analyze their relationships while on vacation. With Jason Bateman, Vince Vaughn, Kristen Bell. Director: Peter Billingsley (1:47). PG-13: Sexuality, language. At area theaters.
Ever go on a vacation where most of the people around seem to be having more fun than you? Then you already know what it’ll feel like to visit “Couples Retreat.”
In fairness, a ticket to Peter Billingsley’s predictable rom-com will get you two hours of spectacular scenery. And you’ll have a few laughs, for sure. Just don’t expect to enjoy yourself as much as everybody on screen.
Even so, it’s always nice to spend time with actors like Vince Vaughn and Jason Bateman. The latter plays Jason, an uptight entrepreneur about to divorce the equally edgy Cynthia (Kristen Bell). They decide to give their relationship one last try, by attending a marriage workshop at a tropical resort. (The movie was shot on Bora Bora.) They can only afford the group rate, so they’ve got to persuade their friends to come along.
Ronnie (Malin Akerman) and Dave (Vaughn) are reluctant to leave their kids. Long-married Lucy (Kristin Davis) and Joey (Jon Favreau) can barely stand to be around each other. And newly divorced Shane (Faizon Love) hardly wants to discuss marriage with his twentysomething girlfriend (Kali Hawk).
After Jason and Cynthia promise a relaxing week of surf ‘n’ sun, everyone finally agrees. But it’s clear on arrival that this is no Club Med. While singles get to party nearby, the marrieds are stuck in a grueling relationship program devised by egomaniacal guru Marcel (Jean Reno).
Given that the script was co-written by Favreau and Vaughn (along with Dana Fox), you might expect an update on 1996’s “Swingers,” in which they sharply dissected the male ego.
Alas, middle age seems to have tamed these two, as the jokes range from mildly entertaining to disappointingly flat. Still, even obvious gags have some zing when delivered by experts. The men, in particular, are consistently amusing. (We can’t blame the ladies for their bland characters — the screenwriters gave themselves all the best lines.)
Bolstered by the gorgeous setting and likable cast, “Retreat” hardly qualifies as a holiday from hell. But you might enjoy it more if you sneak a couple of piña coladas into the theater with you.
Source: nydailynews
