I just read a few reviews for "Couples Retreat" here on IMDb and I agree with most of them. A few good laughs in an otherwise mediocre script and a movie that isn't quite sure of its target audience. Rather than repeat what has been said before, I'd like to use the opportunity to talk about an issue that really bothered me. Towards the end, around the time our main characters reach the fabled "Eden East", the jokes recede and the dialog takes on a more serious note. The men start to discuss each other's relationships, which is then followed by a number of appropriate make-up scenes for each of the four couples.
Personally, I feel the dialog in that last fourth of the movie was so shallow it was almost appalling. Please don't get me wrong - I know romantic comedies don't usually enlighten us with deep insights into human love and emotions. But on the other hand I reserve the right not to be bullsh*tted. Have you ever had the feeling someone is trying to lecture you on something you have a far deeper and better understanding of? Picture a European soccer fan explaining baseball to you - you, a Yankees ticket holder all your life. Or maybe an accountant advising you, a hardy fisherman, on how to handle your net. You just want to go "yeah, right", then turn around and leave.
What am I driving at? Well, the point is, that is how I felt about the dialog. I'm not an expert on love, and chances are I never will be. But I know when something rings true and I know when something sounds like hollow garbage. "Once I saw other men, I learned what I have in you." Wow. "He is always planning everything out for us - our relationship feels like a prison." Deep. "If you don't make up with your wife, one day, you'll be sitting at Applebees all by yourself." Oh my, why haven't I thought about this before.
Where I live we have a saying: "If you don't have a clue about it - just shut up." During the last twenty minutes of this movie, I had the violent urge to grab Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn and shake them until they stop selling me those trivialities like ancient wisdom. I sometimes wonder - is it just me? Do I have a weird perception of things? Maybe most viewers are actually severely touched by those scenes and I am just an insensitive rock? Honestly, I'd be interested to see a statistic.
Apart from that, I'm willing to admit there were some enjoyable moments. The boy's first toilet scene made me burst out with laughter. But by far the best thing about the movie was the setting - so beautiful and sunny it made me forget the winter for two hours. And that's worth something.
Personally, I feel the dialog in that last fourth of the movie was so shallow it was almost appalling. Please don't get me wrong - I know romantic comedies don't usually enlighten us with deep insights into human love and emotions. But on the other hand I reserve the right not to be bullsh*tted. Have you ever had the feeling someone is trying to lecture you on something you have a far deeper and better understanding of? Picture a European soccer fan explaining baseball to you - you, a Yankees ticket holder all your life. Or maybe an accountant advising you, a hardy fisherman, on how to handle your net. You just want to go "yeah, right", then turn around and leave.
What am I driving at? Well, the point is, that is how I felt about the dialog. I'm not an expert on love, and chances are I never will be. But I know when something rings true and I know when something sounds like hollow garbage. "Once I saw other men, I learned what I have in you." Wow. "He is always planning everything out for us - our relationship feels like a prison." Deep. "If you don't make up with your wife, one day, you'll be sitting at Applebees all by yourself." Oh my, why haven't I thought about this before.
Where I live we have a saying: "If you don't have a clue about it - just shut up." During the last twenty minutes of this movie, I had the violent urge to grab Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn and shake them until they stop selling me those trivialities like ancient wisdom. I sometimes wonder - is it just me? Do I have a weird perception of things? Maybe most viewers are actually severely touched by those scenes and I am just an insensitive rock? Honestly, I'd be interested to see a statistic.
Apart from that, I'm willing to admit there were some enjoyable moments. The boy's first toilet scene made me burst out with laughter. But by far the best thing about the movie was the setting - so beautiful and sunny it made me forget the winter for two hours. And that's worth something.