artwork by Rhea Boyd
When a group of friends visit a paradise island to fix their marital problems and enjoy some romantic vacation time, issues arise out of the paradise blue ocean and their inner feelings are shown.
Three of the four couples escaping to Eden Resort are persuaded by their good friends, Jason (Jason Bateman, Arrested Development) and Cynthia (Kristen Bell, Forgetting Sarah Marshall), who fear their marriage is on thin ice. Their logical brains search for answers from the “professionals” located in Eden’s marriage counseling program. These two actors, and the roles they were playing, helped structure the anticipated hilarity of the film along with the other strong comedic influences found in the cast.
The couples are convinced to take the vacation with Jason and Cynthia some how or other (an opaque point in the film), and eventually fly to the enchanting Bora Bora. At first the resort seems like luxury: decked out with delicious foods, supreme service and opulent rooms right on the ocean. The majority of the couples plan to have their own fun with each activity provided and avoid the ooy-gooey emotional marriage building sessions and activities. When the itinerary arrives during their first meal, they suddenly realize Eden has bigger plans for them: 6 AM couple’s yoga sessions, everyday therapy sessions, etc. Anyone knows that when you throw characters into an uncomfortable situation you are sure to end up with a sore stomach from the heaves of laughter. Unfortunately, Couple’s Retreat fell below bar.
The resort is run by Monsieur Marcel (Jean Reno, The Da Vinci Code) and his staff including Cstanley, aka Stanley spelled with a C, (Peter Serafinowicz) and the studmuffin yoga instructor Salvador (Latin pop singer Carlos Ponce) – all of which accept smiles as tips. The staff tries its best to invoke love and healing in each of the couples, but to those who feel as though they do not need it, they are down right annoying.
Each couple reaches obstacles during the course of the film. The endless focus of attention on their problems, of four different couples I must add (a hefty number to follow for a mere two hours), leaves little room for actual character development. Each couple seemed to possess a certain personality that shoved them together into a single unit without prominent traits individualizing them.
For example take the couple consisting of Lucy (Kristin Davis, Sex in the City) and Joey (Jon Favreau, I Love You, Man), their problems are more deeply rooted than those invoked by the too-close-for-comfort therapy sessions. Joey’s neediness for female attention (besides his wife’s) and Lucy’s desire for the attractive masseuse is both evident and heavily demonstrated throughout the movie.
The peak of the plot and their problems arise without fail, accompanied with the biggest obstacle of all: having to travel to the other side of the resort, Eden West – the singles side, each of them finds their problems staring them in the face. Without giving too much away, I can say that the anticlimactic scenes following did not surprise me and I don’t believe the moviegoers around me were shocked either at the predictability of the “happily ever after” ending.
The strong cast has lured audience members into theater seats, popcorn and slushies in hand. Vince Vaughn puts a smile on my face with almost every word out of his mouth, but even some of his dialogue was annoyingly predictable and too in sync with the rest of the couples. Although when he exclaims, “Now it’s a party!”, a one-liner only Vaughn could pull off, during the almost-naked trust building activity I literally laughed out loud.
Couples Retreat offered a few giggles and smirks from the audience but did not live up to the standards the actors have set for themselves in previous films.
2/5 of stars.
