You, Me and Dupree (2006) *1/2
Mismatches abound in You, Me and Dupree, from casting to writing to me and my TV. To get to the point, this movie just does not work. At all. To start, its pretty badly cast, side for perhaps Michael Douglas and Owen Wilson who do kinda sorta pull off their roles. Kate Hudson, god bless her, does what she can. She's a fine actress. What she needs is a fine agent.
Matt Dillon, who's done some nice work in the past (Crash, There's Something About Mary etc) is just so poorly cast in this movie that I just could not believe any scene he was in. He's not doing a terrible job acting, he's just not the right guy for the role. Its almost as if the movie would have been better off with him as Dupree. Dillon thrives on playing hard edged and dark humored characters. He just doesn't fit right here.
Aside from poor casting choices (and some equally poor script choice by 3 other wise good actors) the writing in this movie is bad. Jokes fall flat and we see them coming from a mile away. Its too inane to have any kind of sweetness and too tame to really get raunchy. Owen Wilson is great at playing those lost and troubled type anti heroes as witnessed in Wes Anderson's films (Life Aquatic anyone?), and there are moments in You, Me and Dupree where he does a pretty good job, and despite my distaste for the movie, it did provide a couple of laughs. Although they came so infrequently that when i did laugh, it was more relieving to me that i could finally chuckle than it was particularly amusing. Seth Rogan, for the short time that he makes an appearance, is also funny as always.
Now, there may have been something good here with some better writing and pretty much a total overhaul of the casting, but whats done is done and the movie's over. And for that I am thankful.
1.5/4
Mismatches abound in You, Me and Dupree, from casting to writing to me and my TV. To get to the point, this movie just does not work. At all. To start, its pretty badly cast, side for perhaps Michael Douglas and Owen Wilson who do kinda sorta pull off their roles. Kate Hudson, god bless her, does what she can. She's a fine actress. What she needs is a fine agent.
Matt Dillon, who's done some nice work in the past (Crash, There's Something About Mary etc) is just so poorly cast in this movie that I just could not believe any scene he was in. He's not doing a terrible job acting, he's just not the right guy for the role. Its almost as if the movie would have been better off with him as Dupree. Dillon thrives on playing hard edged and dark humored characters. He just doesn't fit right here.
Aside from poor casting choices (and some equally poor script choice by 3 other wise good actors) the writing in this movie is bad. Jokes fall flat and we see them coming from a mile away. Its too inane to have any kind of sweetness and too tame to really get raunchy. Owen Wilson is great at playing those lost and troubled type anti heroes as witnessed in Wes Anderson's films (Life Aquatic anyone?), and there are moments in You, Me and Dupree where he does a pretty good job, and despite my distaste for the movie, it did provide a couple of laughs. Although they came so infrequently that when i did laugh, it was more relieving to me that i could finally chuckle than it was particularly amusing. Seth Rogan, for the short time that he makes an appearance, is also funny as always.
Now, there may have been something good here with some better writing and pretty much a total overhaul of the casting, but whats done is done and the movie's over. And for that I am thankful.
1.5/4