'Couples Retreat': Vaughn's latest lacks chemistry, laughs
Published: October 09, 2009, 4:34 pm
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Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn are no longer Swingers. And Kristin Davis and Sarah Jessica Parker have moved on from their freewheelin' single days.
Favreau, Vaughn and Davis star in "Couples Retreat," which opens today, and Parker stars in "Did You Hear About the Morgans?" which was previewed before my screening of "Couples." Both films are about couples who have lost that lovin' feeling thrust into an exotic situation.
In "Couples," Cynthia Smith (Kristen Bell, "Veronica Mars") is from, well, Venus and her pushy husband Jason (Jason Bateman, "Arrested Development") is from Mars. Their marriage has hit bad times so they recruit three couples to go with them to Eden West -- a posh retreat on an isolated tropical island. Why the Smiths want to make such an important moment in their lives a group excursion is beyond me. The Smiths' friends take some convincing but eventually relent -- ostensibly to enjoy cocktails on the rocks rather than talk openly about their marriages on the rocks.
These are the same people who write to advice columnists Carolyn Hax and Dear Abby (well, the women are anyway). And if a friend -- using a Powerpoint presentation no less -- tried to talk me and my wife into spending an ungodly amount of money on a trip to this summer camp for spoiled adults I'd laugh them out of the room.
Take a look at the wedding announcements in this paper sometime. Every couple goes to Aruba, Hawaii or a similar tropical locale for their honeymoon. Is a return visit 10 years later really what the marriage counselor ordered? Or is a symptom of suburban yuppie excess? There's nothing likable about these suburbanites with a proclivity to booze even if you can't relate.
A miscast Jean Reno plays the savant who guides the couples with his New Age mumbo jumbo. As the couples go through the regimented program, they go out of character faster than my guitar goes out of tune.
Normally sane Dave (Vaughn) goes off on whiny tangent about his non-existent injuries from a shark attack, which proves it only takes one cranky privileged middle upper class fortysomething to ruin the party. And it is a party - despite all the teeth pulling it takes to get the couples to put down the jet skis and express their true feelings.
Newlyweds looking for a cautionary tale about just going through the emotions of marriage would do well to check out "Revolutionary Road" instead or even "Forgetting Sarah Marshall." Even TV's "Lost" has couples working through their issues in a beautiful tropical climate sans the amenities - and "Lost" has a smoke monster to boot.
The "Swingers" and "Sex and the City" crew are now cast in parenting subplots with toddler potty training jokes. Favreau and Vaughn have lost the buddy chemistry that made "Swingers" so funny. They spend most of "Couples Retreat" at each other's throats. Is it a consequence of growing old or a badly written script? Probably both.
"Couples Retreat" also perpetuates the TV sitcom stereotype that goofball guys always land gorgeous women and resurrects the prudish Americans/oversexed Europeans dichotomy. Throw in some product placement and a syrupy sweet ending and you've got a throwaway flick to ignore before Christmas rush of quality films.
"Couples Retreat"
One and a half stars
Comedy starring Vince Vaughn, Jason Bateman, Faizon Love, Jon Favreau, Kristen Bell and Kristin Davis. Directed by Peter Billingsley. 107 minutes. Rated PG-13 for sexual content and language. Opened Friday in area theaters.
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