Once in a while, we can all use a little vacation, a break from the monotonous routines of everyday life. Vince Vaughn’s new comedy, “Couples Retreat,” follows four couples on a vacation of their own. And, like the couples in the movie, “Couples Retreat” turns out to be something different than expected. Unfortunately, though, the movie is an unfortunate retreat from Vaughn’s usual sense of humor and audience base.
“Couples Retreat” begins with the scheduled, business-like marriage of Jason (Jason Bateman, “Arrested Development”) and Cynthia (Kristin Bell, “Astro Boy”), who believe their inability to conceive is leading them down the road to an inevitable divorce. In an attempt to remedy their marital troubles, they decide to take a trip to Eden, a beautiful paradise resort in Bora Bora. And, via PowerPoint presentation, they convince their friends to come along for the “fun stuff.” Except it isn’t all jet skis and island drinks. Each couple is forced to participate in couples’ skill-building which includes intense emotional counseling and ridiculous physical challenges similar to those on VH1’s “Tool Academy.”
The couples trudge along in support of Jason and Cynthia, but soon come to face to face with their own problems. Joey (Jon Favreau, “G-Force”) and Lucy (Kristin Davis, “Sex and the City”) push the outer limits of infidelity, while Dave (Vaughn, “Four Christmases”) and Ronnie (Malin Akerman, “The Proposal”) realize they have been just barely “getting through stuff.”
The star-studded cast gives the movie a lot of power, helping propel it to No. 1 at the weekend box office. But those eight-digit figures were raked in not because of the movie, but because fans recognize the actors and the usual high caliber of their work. And they’re right, in a way: The acting itself was not bad, but there was something awry about throwing them all together.
Sadly, this is not your typical Vaughn movie, and not in a good way. Vaughn’s character does stay true to his usual brash, tell-it-like-it-is funnyman characteristics, but “Couples Retreat” is no “Wedding Crashers.” Instead, this movie hits a different demographic — not the younger crowd who is accustomed to talk of breaking up, but the married crowd who can relate to marital issues.
The weakest spot of the film is the writing. “Couples Retreat” explores the mature relationships of four married couples, but unfortunately does not provide the same mature humor to match. Instead of laugh-out-loud moments, we get childish and shallow jokes, mostly unrelated to the plot. Much of the comedy was just plain obscure, more likely to leave you confused than to leave you laughing.
One of the great things about movies is that there are no commercials, which means no interruptions. Wait, what?
Apparently Vaughn, Favreau and director Peter Billingsley (“Four Christmases”) didn’t get the memo. “Couples Retreat” unnecessarily derails into an excruciatingly long Guitar Hero battle between Dave and the sophisticated-because-his-name-is-spelled-with-a-C Sctanley (Peter Serafinowicz, “Tales of the Riverbank”), the arrogant and creepy hotel manager. The purpose of this? Advertising.
Yet to counteract the bad taste in your mouth, “Couples Retreat” highlights the beautiful and luxurious tropical island of Bora Bora. The scenery will make you want to travel, and if (for some reason) you didn’t want to vacation there before, you will now. And better still are the equally gorgeous, sexy bodies to compliment the scenery. Case in point: Davis and Carlos Ponce. Eye candy is always a plus.
“Couples Retreat” is not what a die-hard Vaughn fan is accustomed to, and it is nowhere near the genius of Vaughn’s past work. Yet although the movie misses the mark by just a tad, it’s just enough to make the DVD release worth waiting for. Perhaps Vaughn and the “Couples Retreat” family need a vacation of their own — a little time to sit back, relax and get in touch with their inner comedy gene.
2 1/2 stars out of 5.
