REVIEW: ‘Couples Retreat’

Last Friday, while I was listening to ‘The Pugs and Kelly Show’ (which can be heard on 1360 AM Rational Radio from 1:00 – 4:00 pm weekdays), I overheard Devin doing the Red Carpet Crash movie reviews (Fridays at 3:00 pm) and he nonchalantly mentions that “Couples Retreat” is a chick flick.  A chick flick?  No way a movie starring Vince Vaughn, Jon Favreau, Jason Bateman and Faizon Love could ever be a chick flick!  

“Couples Retreat” Rated PG-13 • 107 minutes Starring Vince Vaughn, Jason Bateman, Jon Favreau, Kristin Bell, Malin Akerman Directed by: Peter Billingsley Written By: Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau RCC Rating: Worth Your Time On Cable

The movie was even written by Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau (surprisingly to note this is their first team-up as writers) and directed by Peter Billingsley! Yes, that Peter Billingsley, who played Ralphie in “A Christmas Story”!  Devin must be wrong about this …or is he? So as I entered the theater to watch “Couples Retreat”, I had just one question racing through my mind… is “Couples Retreat” really a chick flick in disguise?

“Couples Retreat” is about four Midwestern couples who voyage off for a week together to a resort on a tropical island for a little bit of fun in the sun. For one couple the reason for the retreat  is to receive therapy for their failing marriage.  Unbeknownst  to the other three couples the therapy sessions are mandatory for everyone and their fun in the sun became a week long of excruciating marriage counseling.

The first twenty minutes of this movie are absolutely some of the funniest and laugh-out-loud dialogue and scenes I have seen since “The Hangover.” Sadly, this is before the couples reach the island. On a side note, Colin Baiocchi, who plays Vince Vaughn’s youngest son, Kevin, steals the whole entire movie with his doe-eyed looks and by doing something I have always wondered if people did in a home improvement store.  

Once on the island, the writing becomes lazy and the laughs become few and far between.  The marriage therapy sessions are excruciating and painful to watch and garner few, if any, laughs. For the next hour the movie turn its focus away from being funny (or at least trying to be funny) to focusing on dealing with the wives’ feelings about the strained relationships with their husbands.  

At the same time, the husbands turn into complete self-centered idiots who care very little for the feeling of their wives, and reinforcing their wives feelings about them. The only two things that try to save this movie on the island is Carlos Ponce, who portrays yoga instructor Salvador, and the quick, witty banter between Favreau and Vaughn that begs one question “Guys, do you occasionally go back to your highlight reel?”  

If you do see go this movie don’t expected to see another “The Break Up” or “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” – this movie falls short where the others have succeeded.

“Couples Retreat” started out by having the makings of a great comedy, but instead of continuing on that course, the writing became lazy and turned into a movie about relationships and how sometimes those relationships can be one sided.  Devin was right, this movie is a chick flick! In retrospect, this chick flick left me feeling a bit disappointed and upset that only twenty minutes of the movie was truly funny.