Couples Retreat (2009)

Director:

Peter Billingsley

Writers (WGA):

Jon Favreau (written by) and
Vince Vaughn (written by) ...

Release Date:

9 October 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

It may be paradise... but it's no vacation.

Plot:

A comedy centered around four couples who settle into a tropical-island resort for a vacation. While one of the couples is there to work on the marriage, the others fail to realize that participation in the resort's therapy sessions is not optional. |

Plot Keywords:

Couple | Screwball Comedy | Critically Bashed | Box Office Hit | Chick Flick

Cast

Vince Vaughn	...	Dave
Jason Bateman	...	Jason
Faizon Love	...	Shane
Jon Favreau	...	Joey
Malin Akerman	...	Ronnie
Kristen Bell	...	Cynthia
Kristin Davis	...	Lucy
Kali Hawk	...	Trudy
Tasha Smith	...	Jennifer
Carlos Ponce	...	Salvadore
Peter Serafinowicz	...	Sctanley
Jean Reno	...	Marcel
Temuera Morrison	...	Briggs
Jonna Walsh	...	Lacey
Gattlin Griffith	...	Robert

Also Known As:

Untitled Vince Vaughn Project (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 on appeal for sexual content and language. (originally Rated R for some sexual material.)

Runtime:

113 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

USA:R (original rating) | USA:PG-13 (re-rating on appeal) (certificate #45636) | Ireland:15A | Finland:K-11 | Australia:M | Singapore:NC-16 | Portugal:M/12 | Netherlands:12 | South Korea:15

Filming Locations:

Bora-Bora, Tahiti, French Polynesia

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Vince Vaughn was raised in Buffalo Grove, Illinois, a northwestern suburb outside of Chicago. The characters of "Couples Retreat" reside in Buffalo Grove, and Joey Tippaglio (Jon Favreau's character) is seen wearing several Buffalo Grove High School shirts.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Dave and Scantley are talking just before they play Guitar Hero, Dave's guitar strap is straight. He looks away, then it is twisted, and then it's straight again.

Quotes:

Dave: [Referring to Twitter] I call it twatting.

Movie Connections:

References "Bonanza" (1959)

Soundtrack:

LONELY IS THE NIGHT

Couple of Laughs

Went by myself. Ironic, neh? It wasn't Wedding Crashers or Dodgeball, but a mildly funny, watchable movie nonetheless. Don't go expecting Shakespeare.

Its take on modern romance is mostly positive: people have good and bad parts of them, but we can all learn to love our spouses better. Though the actors did fairly well with the material, the jokes needed more polish. A few of the best performances were from the couples' counselors and other members of the resort staff, including my favorite, "Chewbacca." The most ludicrous moment for me was the gifting of the animal spirits by Jean Reno. They were all rather unfunny until Vince Vaughan received his. He made a comment to his wife before he kisses her that was typical classic Vince.

However, the movie is a bit too lagging between its laughs to really be a great comedy, and lacked a true heart of pathos for you to really connect with any of the characters. It ends up a caricature of the couples getaway industry and our modern society.

In the film, one of the wives jumps out of her canoe to get away from her annoying husband. Ticked off, she swims to shore alone. Perhaps some fans might be tempted to do the same, and bail out of the movie.

This could easily have been a better movie. Better writing. Better cinematography. Better delivery by the cast. But as it was, I'd say it was marginally worth a matinée and the price of popcorn.

Scale of 1 to 10: 5.