Vince Vaughn & Jason Bateman

Remember "I Will, I Will ... For Now," the 1976 comedy starring Elliott Gould and Diane Keaton about a husband and wife taking a chance on a swingin' sex clinic in order to reignite That Spark?

A year from now you won't remember "Couples Retreat" either.

It's a commodity made to be consumed, not remembered, and if Vince Vaughn could help make "Four Christmases" a success, he may well get audiences to down this one too.

Now, I like Vaughn. He's both a real actor ("Into the Wild" for starters) and, with the right material, an ingratiating movie star with regular-guy appeal. Watching the unstable but intriguing machinations of "The Break-Up," you could trace precisely why that film clicked at the box office against all predictions.

The scenes in which Vaughn's character finally owned up to his own shortcomings to the Jennifer Aniston character, along with the scenes with his brother, played by Vincent D'Onofrio -- these had real feeling behind them, and Vaughn went at them bravely.

By contrast, the sloppily written shenanigans guiding "Couples Retreat" are all about movie star maintenance, giving Vaughn (who co-wrote and produced) the last word in every situation, the upper hand in every encounter and nothing fresh to play. Director Peter Billingsley shot most of it in Bora Bora. The results are boring boring, and whether he's being circled by computer-generated sharks or bugged by sniveling Frenchmen and Brits, we're supposed to side with Vaughn simply because he's Vaughn, our adorable urban caveman.

He and Malin Akerman play Dave and Ronnie, one of four Chicago couples in the story.

The husband and wife played by Jason Bateman and Kristen Bell, coping with infertility and other issues, ask their pals to join them on a tropical couples retreat to see them through to divorce or to reconciliation. Jon Favreau and Kristen Davis play Joey and Lucy; Faizon Love and Kali Hawk play Shane and his much-younger girlfriend, Trudy, though Vaughn's character seems contemptuous at best when it comes to most of these folks' problems.

The gang thinks it's getting umbrella drinks and beach time. They're met instead with a stern regimen of "couples-whispering" tactics proffered by flaky resort owner Marcel (Jean Reno, searching in vain for a verifiable joke). These entail therapy sessions, yoga taught by a hunk who's distracting enough to entice the ladies and threaten the men, and generally staying away from the fun, singles-minded side of the island, where temptations lie.

Though I enjoy nearly everyone on-screen in "Couples Retreat," I found it pretty meager and more than a little depressing. By the end, we're meant to be reassured and sent out smiling. So why did I feel as if I'd just watched a Hollywood remix of Bergman's "Scenes From a Marriage"?

 

"Couples Retreat" Movie Trailer

Vince Vaughn, Jason Bateman, Jon Favreau, Malin Akerman, Kristin Davis, Kristen Bell and Faizon Love star in Universal Pictures upcoming comedy Couples Retreat. Based on an original idea of Vaughns, the comedy follows four Midwestern couples who embark on a journey to a tropical island resort. While one of the couples is there to work on their marriage, the other three set out to jet ski, spa and enjoy some fun in the sun. They soon discover that participation in the resorts couples therapy is not optional. Suddenly, their group-rate vacation comes at a price. What follows is a hilarious look at real world problems faced by all couples.

 

     RSS

 

Receive Movie Reviews
Enter your email address:


Delivered by FeedBurner

 

MPAA rating: PG-13 (for sexual content and language).

Running time: 1:50.

Starring: Vince Vaughn (Dave); Jason Bateman (Jason); Jon Favreau (Joey); Faizon Love (Shane); Kristin Davis (Lucy); Malin Akerman (Ronnie); Kristen Bell (Cynthia); Temuera Morrison (Briggs); Jean Reno (Marcel).

Directed by Peter Billingsley; written by Favreau, Vaughn and Dana Fox; produced by Vaughn and Scott Stuber. A Universal Pictures release.

 

Recent Movie Reviews - Films in Theaters

 

Michael Stuhlbarg & Richard Kind

A Serious Man
Michael Stuhlbarg & Richard Kind in A Serious Man

Set in 1967 in the Minneapolis suburbs, 'A Serious Man' is a tart, brilliantly acted fable of life's little cosmic difficulties, a Coen brothers comedy with a darker philosophical outlook than 'No Country for Old Men' but with a script rich in verbal wit.

 

Chris Rock & Paul Mooney

Good Hair
Chris Rock & Paul Mooney in Good Hair

Comedian Chris Rock's 'Good Hair' consists of two documentaries braided together, one enjoyable, the other enjoyable and provocative. Rock and a film crew covered the 2007 edition of the Bronner Bros. Hair Show in Atlanta and its climactic Hair Battle Royale

 

Corbin Bleu & Penelope Ann Miller

Free Style
Corbin Bleu & Penelope Ann Miller in Free Style

Corbin Bleu may have graduated from "High School Musical," but he stays close to his Disney Channel roots in "Free Style," a squeaky-clean sports flick about a poor kid with big dreams (and bigger hair) trying to make it in the motocross world.

 

Michael Moore

Capitalism: A Love Story
Michael Moore in Capitalism: A Love Story

At its best, this uneven work represents Michael Moore at the peak of his argumentative skills. Roughly a third of its anecdotal and illustrative footage hinges on precise details strong enough to support Moore's wider indictments of the Western world's preferred way to make a buck and treat its citizenry. It is the right time to be dealing with these questions

 

Patton Oswalt & Kevin Corrigan

Big Fan
Patton Oswalt & Kevin Corrigan in Big Fan

Starring comedian Patton Oswalt, 'Big Fan' is a poignant, dead-on examination of a crisis in the life of the most die-hard of die-hard New York Giants football fans. Its situations can be outrageous, but its sense of the core reality it describes is impeccable.

 

Ricky Gervais & Jennifer Garner

The Invention of Lying (3 Stars)
Ricky Gervais & Jennifer Garner in The Invention of Lying

In the world according to 'The Invention of Lying,' truth rules because no one has thought of the alternative. First encounters are brutal. And then comes the epochal First Lie Ever. The movie may be softer than you'd expect from Gervais, but the premise is so rich, you forgive the problems.

 

Woody Harrelson & Jesse Eisenberg

Zombieland
Woody Harrelson & Jesse Eisenberg in Zombieland

Honing the dry comic skills he brought to "Adventureland," Jesse Eisenberg plays a kid from Columbus, Ohio, who joins head-splattering forces with Woody Harrelson, having a high old time as humankind's last best hope. It's a strangely high-spirited lark, giving its leading players plenty to eviscerate in between sweet nothings and wisecracks

Whip It
Ellen Page & Marcia Gay Harden in Whip It

Drew Barrymore's feature directorial debut runs on an easygoing mixture of cliches and grrrl-power, and its cast is good company. (Nice to see Kristen Wiig of 'Saturday Night Live' in more than a novelty role.) A young heroine named Bliss (Ellen Page of 'Juno') goes from the world of teen beauty pageants to roller derby competition after meeting a fiercely alluring gang of roller derby queens.

The Boys Are Back
Clive Owen & Nicholas McAnulty in The Boys Are Back

Clive Owen plays a sports columnist in Australia whose life is upended when his wife (Laura Fraser) dies and he must juggle a return to work with a 6-year-old (Nicholas McAnulty) who doesn't grasp Mom's death. His laissez-faire approach to parenting shocks relatives, but the consequences of it don't fully manifest themselves until a son from an earlier marriage (George MacKay) shows up

Paranormal Activity (2 1/2 Stars)
Katie Featherston & Micah Sloat in Paranormal Activity

A middle-class couple (Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat) living in a San Diego subdivision set up a camcorder with night vision to see what's making weird noises in their home every night, and they gather video evidence that something is messing with their relationship

Fame (2 1/2 Stars)
Debbie Allen & Charles S. Dutton in Fame

One's response to this happy, PG-rated remake, which stands in stark contrast to the R-rated pre-"High School Musical" original, probably depends on your personal relationship to the old version. The newer version, with a cast that includes Debbie Allen and Kelsey Grammer, has a sweet spirit and offers only one true moment of inadvertent camp

The Informant
Matt Damon & Scott Bakula in The Informant

In this deliciously deadpan comedy from director Steven Soderbergh, Matt Damon gets a chance to work his sly comic chops in the role of a biochemist who becomes a corporate whistle-blower. Based on Kurt Eichenwald's exhaustive nonfiction chronicle, the film is both outlandish and subtle.

Jennifer's Body
Megan Fox & Amanda Seyfried in Jennifer's Body

Striving for horror, comedy and anti-mean-girl empowerment, Jennifer's Body wants it all. Yet the tone wavers, the direction's slackly indecisive and visually drab, and in the middle of it is a thinly conceived antagonist played by Megan Fox.

Love Happens
Aaron Eckhart & Jennifer Aniston in Love Happens

Aaron Eckhart plays a best-selling therapist and grief guru whose bereavement counseling gig in Seattle is improved when he meets a flower arranger played by Jennifer Aniston.

The Burning Plain (2 1/2 Stars)
Charlize Theron & Kim Basinger in The Burning Plain

Charlize Theron once again plays a damaged woman running from her past. But storytelling tricks make this an intriguing outing for her, with a cast that includes fellow Oscar winner Kim Basinger and John Corbett.