I’m pretty sure everyone associated with making Couples Retreat signed on to it mainly so they could go to Bora Bora and soak up some sun, because the actual movie feels like an afterthought, a flat and frequently unfunny high-concept comedy that literally overstays its welcome.
Concocted by stars Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau, it sends four Chicago couples with marriage woes to a tropical paradise resort that, much to the chagrin of three of the couples, turns out to be a sort of rehab for relationships run by a Zen-like Frenchman (Jean Reno).
The film’s funniest early on. Vaughn juggles simultaneous phone calls, deals with a son peeing where he shouldn’t, and Jason Bateman and Kristen Bell’s uptight couple put on a Power Point presentation for their friends. The later scenes of the couples in actual therapy also made me chuckle, mainly because John Michael Higgins and Ken Jeong play two of the therapists.
But far too many of the situations are uninspired, juvenile or simply tedious, be it Vaughn and Bateman being threatened by sharks, Favreau’s visible arousal during a massage or just about any time the characters stop to seriously discuss their feelings. As a first-time director, Vaughn pal Peter Billingsley (Ralphie in A Christmas Story), though competent, fails to liven any of it up.
He also needs a lesson in editing, as numerous scenes tend to drag on. One of them–a Guitar Nation showdown with the resort’s British host–could have been cut entirely. And while I was amused by both the Brit (Peter Serafinowicz) and the cartoonishly hunky yoga instructor (Carlos Ponce) the first time I saw them, their novelty wore off after their second and third appearances.
Vaughn does his usual, semi-amusing riffing, Favreau is grossly unpleasant, Bateman is just plain whiny and Faizon Love, as the buddy with the college-age girlfriend, adds very little for being such a (very) big guy. I liked the women, including Kristin Davis and Malin Akerman, a lot more, and not just because they’re easy on the eyes, though I wouldn’t mind being a couple with any one of them. – [DVD]
Comedy
Rated PG-13
DVD Release Date: 2/9/10
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