Couples Retreat
Wednesday, October 14th, 2009Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau have a chemistry together that few really funny comedic duos have. They have a rapport, a riff that sets them apart. Even when they appear together in a film that’s beneath them, like The Break-Up, or way beneath them (like Four Christmases), their scenes together have a spark. So, it’s strange that they have so few scenes together in Couples Retreat that have that comic energy. Stranger still since they wrote the film (along with director Peter “You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out” Billingsley).
It seemed like a great idea for a film: four couples, all friends, go to a tropical island paradise to work out their relationships. The fact that the cast includes many talented actors gave hope. The trailers were funny. So, why is the final product so routine? It doesn’t help that most of the main actors don’t seem that interested here; the characters don’t really behave like real friends.
You’d think that a film that’s cast included Jason Bateman, Kristen Bell, Faizon Love, Kristin Davis, Malin Akerma, Vaughn and Faverau would, you know, give them interesting and funny things to do. Not the case. Of the main characters, only Faizon Love and Kali Hawk (as Love’s much younger girlfriend seem to be having any fun). Jean Reno appears as the self-appointed relationship expert, but his ponytail is about the only joke he’s given. Much funnier is Peter Serafinowicz as Sctanley, the resort’s second-in-command. He has a definite comic presence (and he also could probably do a pretty killer Terence Stamp impression). Dr. Ken Jeong and John Michael Higgins show up as counselors, but their appearances are pretty much the joke.
I’m making it sound like this film was a chore, it wasn’t. There are some genuinely funny moments, including a climatic battle with a certain video game franchise, and some one-liners provided by Vaughn and Ackerman’s children. Plus, Hawk gets to deliver some very awkward and hilarious dialogue. It’s just, with a cast like this, you’d expect more than a mediocre comedy that you’ll forget almost immediately after viewing.