Couple's Retreat

Couple's Retreat

"Dave and Ronnie, Jason and Cynthia, and Joey and Lucy are close. The group used to include Shane and Jennifer, but they divorced and she's gone. Jason and Cynthia announce that their marriage is in trouble, and they beg their friends (and Shane's young girlfriend) to join them on a couples' retreat, at the package rate, on a tropical island. The others reluctantly agree, planning to play while Jason and Cynthia work on their marriage with an island psychologist. To everyone's surprise, the package is inflexible: each couple must participate in the couples' exercises. Soon fault lines appear in all four relationships. What's in store for each couple?"



2 stars

I wasn’t expecting too much from this movie and that’s exactly what I got. I have to say I was a little disappointed though because Jason Bateman, Vince Vaughn, and (to a lesser extent) Kristen Bell have some pretty respectable comedic chops. But the weird thing was that not only did they not use those chops, it seems like they didn’t even try to. The writing was a little heavier than you would expect for a comedy. In the couple’s therapy sessions in particular I thought I was going to laugh pretty hard. But the advice the therapists gave actually ended up being pretty good and meaningful, and there’s just no place for that.

The story is pretty bland and the plot is more than predictable. However, it was shot on location in Bora Bora and the visual aspect of the movie is ridiculous. I am officially putting it on the list of places I want to visit before I’m 40. But the cascading waterfalls aren’t the only nice lookin’ scenery around, if you know what I mean. Let’s face it, the ladies are pretty damn hot. There is no other proof required that God loves America than the fact that 4 over-weight, above-average looking guys can have 4 bangin’ wives. And, shockingly enough, Kristin Davis is the oldest woman in the movie by a good 13 years but she is BY FAR the sexiest. If nothing else guys, watch the scene towards the beginning of the movie when the couples strip down to their underwear. I don’t know if it’s possible to wear down a DVD like you can a tape, but let’s just say that I hit on that scene more than once.

The movie ends up having kind of a sweet ending, but nothing that would redeem it enough to make it a good movie. From a strictly shallow perspective, the hot women and tropical locale make it work renting on a Sunday night and having on in the background while you clean the house.