‘Couples Retreat’ overstuffed, still worth a laugh

By Matthew Jackson

There are some movies so stacked with talent that you really can’t resist going to see them. Studios do this on purpose, of course. The more big names you can pack onto a poster, the more money you’re likely to make. This is a phenomena that started in the 1970s (take a look at the cast list of “The Towering Inferno” and you’ll see what I mean) and continues in a proud (or not so proud, depending on where you sit) tradition of star-packed vehicles today.

“Couples Retreat” is the latest of these deep-rostered flicks, bringing together several really famous people, a few moderately famous people, and even more really funny character actors whose names you know you love, even if you can never remember their name.

The film follows four very different couples that represent one group of friends. Dave (Vince Vaughn) and Ronnie (Malin Akerman) are a well-adjusted couple with two kids living in suburban bliss. Joey (Jon Favreau) and Lucy (Kristin Davis) are trying to control their teenage daughter and continually hide the fact that they’re headed for a divorce. Shane (Faizon Love) is recovering from his own divorce with a girl half his age named Trudy (Kali Hawk), and Jason (Jason Bateman) and Cynthia (Kristen Bell) are an over-analytical couple trying to save their marriage through PowerPoint presentations and overplanning.

Desperate for a solution to their marital problems, Jason and Cynthia book a week at a luxury couples island resort, and in order to save money, book the other three couples on a group rate. Their six friends agree to go under the pretense that they can all go jet-ski while Jason and Cynthia are in counseling.

When the four couples arrive at Eden, it’s all hunky-dory until they’re told by the resort’s snooty concierge (Peter Serafinowicz) that the package they signed up for is all or nothing. They either get up at 6 a.m. and go to counseling, and follow the program to the letter, or they get sent home. The next day all eight reluctantly begin their couple-building program with Monsieur Marcel (Jean Reno), a free-spirited self-help guru who forces them to, among other things, strip naked on a beach and do yoga with a far too touchy-feely instructor (Carlos Ponce). In the days that follow all four pairs are thrown into turmoil, and hilarity ensues.

The hilarity is there in plenty, due in no small part to the dueling talents of Vaughn and Favreau, who also serve as two-thirds of the screenwriting team for the film. Coming together for their first major work together since 2001’s “Made,” the two old buddies still have their chemistry, hitting back and forth like a modernized Matthau and Lemmon. As usual, you can never tell what’s scripted and what’s improvised, lending a natural tone to the dialogue that makes up for the often artificial feeling of the surroundings.

Not that the flick doesn’t look great. Peter Billingsley, in his first time in the director’s chair, never ceases to remind you of the paradise that permeates the flick, probably in an attempt to contrast with the darkness that begins to consume the couples. After a while, though, it starts to become a bit of a cliché. Palm trees are pretty, so are oceans, so are babes in bikinis, but did we really need this many crane shots?

While the look of the film eventually gets monotonous, the interrelations between each of the couples seem to come and go too quickly, so quickly at times you’ll miss it if you blink. You can see the issues, sure, and the resolutions, but you never quite see how they wound up there in the first place. It’s not true of everything, but there are many moments in this film that could have been vastly improved simply by slowing down and letting us listen in a little more.

Though the film is so crowded that no one really gets to be a star, the talent is definitely high caliber in this flick. Bateman and Love are the perfect supporting foils to the Vaughn/Favreau dynamic, and all the ladies are top notch. The real scene stealers come in the forms of Reno, Serafinowicz and Ponce, who add depth and character to the polished façade of Eden. Oh, and if you like Rick Springfield and Guitar Hero, you’re in for a treat.

So, the flick has its problems, but far fewer problems than most of the drivel that comes out of the Hollywood romcom machine. Bottom line: it’s funny, it’s fun to watch, and it’s packed with likeable talent. What’s not to love?

Matt’s Call: Far from the funniest comedy of the year, but far from the least funny too. Apart from “Julie and Julia” (which was brilliant, though I didn’t review it here), “Couples Retreat” is probably the best date movie to hit 2009 so far.