Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Vince Vaughn | ... | Dave | |
Jason Bateman | ... | Jason Smith | |
Faizon Love | ... | Shane | |
Jon Favreau | ... | Joey | |
Malin Akerman | ... | Ronnie | |
Kristen Bell | ... | Cynthia | |
Kristin Davis | ... | Lucy | |
Kali Hawk | ... | Trudy | |
Tasha Smith | ... | Jennifer | |
Carlos Ponce | ... | Salvadore | |
Peter Serafinowicz | ... | Sctanley | |
Jean Reno | ... | Marcel | |
Temuera Morrison | ... | Briggs | |
Jonna Walsh | ... | Lacey | |
Gattlin Griffith | ... | Robert |
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? Written by <jhailey@hotmail.com>
Went by myself. Ironic, neh? It wasn't Wedding Crashers or Dodgeball, but a mildly funny, watchable movie nonetheless. Don't go expecting Shakespeare.
Its take on modern romance is mostly positive: people have good and bad parts of them, but we can all learn to love our spouses better. Though the actors did fairly well with the material, the jokes needed more polish. A few of the best performances were from the couples' counselors and other members of the resort staff, including my favorite, "Chewbacca." The most ludicrous moment for me was the gifting of the animal spirits by Jean Reno. They were all rather unfunny until Vince Vaughan received his. He made a comment to his wife before he kisses her that was typical classic Vince.
However, the movie is a bit too lagging between its laughs to really be a great comedy, and lacked a true heart of pathos for you to really connect with any of the characters. It ends up a caricature of the couples getaway industry and our modern society.
In the film, one of the wives jumps out of her canoe to get away from her annoying husband. Ticked off, she swims to shore alone. Perhaps some fans might be tempted to do the same, and bail out of the movie.
This could easily have been a better movie. Better writing. Better cinematography. Better delivery by the cast. But as it was, I'd say it was marginally worth a matinée and the price of popcorn.
Scale of 1 to 10: 5.