In Theaters Review: Couples Retreat
Couples Retreat manages to pull out all the comedic routines in the book: a man gets woody during a massage; a scantily clad male yoga instructor puts his genitals a little too close for comfort in front of his male students’ faces; and a shark in the water gets blown way out of proportion. Yet, they all fall flat. These hijinks are overdone, obvious and, ultimately, boring.
Thirteen years ago when Jon Favreau wrote the quirky and refreshingly comedic Swingers it starred a little known actor by the name of Vince Vaughn whose satirical and quick-witted brand of comedy was gut-busting. Flash forward to the present after Vaughn has played the same guy from Swingers in just about every comedy he has been in. Sure, it was funny in Wedding Crashsers, but funny turned into dull by the time Fred Claus came out. Couples Retreat is, sadly, no different.
This supposed comedy revolves around four couples after they are cajoled into going on a couples retreat. One of the couples, Jason (Jason Bateman) and Cynthia (Kristen Bell), is on the brink of divorce and they think that this could be their saving grace. The other three couples agree to go thinking that they’ll be able to relax in paradise, yet once they arrive they are told by a rather stern British concierge, Ctanley (Peter Serafinowicz)—whose deadpan and eerily creepy performance is probably the only spark in the film—that they must partake in all the activities including the counseling sessions if they want to stay. To further explain this plot is futile because what ensues after this is moment after moment of tedium and several half-baked attempts at humor.
I must say I was disappointed by the film because the first time I saw the trailer I was enthused and thought it looked quite comical. However, I soon discovered that all the films funniest moments were but into the trailer and after seeing that same trailer at least 20 times, the jokes felt stale and clichéd. By the end, this movie was just a one-trick pony who only aimed at making me laugh by making me uncomfortable.
Perhaps the most annoying aspect of the film, however is that everyone, of course, gets what they want by the end. (I don’t think I’m spoiling anything by revealing this fact. I’m sure you had the ending figured within the first five minutes.) Except for me. Because I had to sit through this snoozer.
