http://www.mlive.com/movies/index.ssf/2009/10/laughs_break_down_with_communi.html
Laughs break down with communication in 'Couples Retreat' "Couples Retreat" follows the trajectory of many a doomed relationship. First, it's all laughter and lightheartedness, but before long it's all about moping around, dredging up past sins and wallowing in shallow pop-psychology "insights" drawn straight from the gospel of Dr. Phil. Although director Peter Billingsley and co-screenwriters Vince Vaughn, Jon Favreau and Dana Fox make a noble attempt to combine the gooey warmth of a chick-flick with the rough-around-the-edges jokiness that's Vaughn and Favreau's trademark, it's clear there was a communication breakdown somewhere along the way. Parts of "Retreat" go straight for lowdown laughs, with gags about bodily functions and sexual dysfunction. The other 70 percent of the movie doles out thick slices of cheesy relationship-speak. After a while, the quartet of troubled couples here begin to make the characters in "He's Just Not That Into You" seem like strong, silent types. The "Retreat" of the title is a Polynesian playground aptly named Eden. Chicago lawyer Jason (Jason Bateman) and his wife, Cynthia (Kristen Bell), coerce their friends -- Dave (Vaughn) and Ronnie (Malin Akerman); and Joey (Favreau) and Lucy (Kristin Davis) -- into joining them in a little sun and self-help. Divorced Shane (Faison Love) comes along, bringing with him a shrieky 20-year-old girlfriend, Trudy (Kali Hawk), who announces she "can't wait to get my drink on!" But there's more emotional bruising than boozing in store for the unfortunate eight, as they become students of Monsieur Marcel (Jean Reno), a "couples whisperer" prone to coughing up such pearls of wisdom as "moments: life is made of them." Eden threatens to become Temptation Island when a muscle-bound yoga teacher (Carlos Ponce) and a harem's worth of hotties show up and shake up the already rattled visitors. As usual, Vaughn fires off wisecracks at regular intervals, and some of them are sharp. Bateman throws in a few verbal volleys of his own: Jeering at Shane's two-week-old involvement with Trudy, Jason sneers, "That's not a relationship -- it's an antibiotics cycle." But the women, despite their comic credentials, are given little to do except look perplexed at their husband's shenanigans, and once the film begins dispensing little lessons in love, it doesn't stop; the laughter, however, does. By the time most of the cast wanders into a resort where sexy singles slither around in scanty swimwear, "Retreat" completely loses its bearings and Billingsley is left frantically cutting from one supposedly meaningful conversation to another in a futile stab at holding the audience's interest. The hollow message about how hard it is to have fun with your partner is as unconvincing as the sight of a crowd of under-25s dirty-dancing to such 30-year-old records as Change's "A Lover's Holiday" and the Love Unlimited Orchestra's "Love's Theme." At least cinematographer Eric Alan Edwards provides a little distraction with postcard-perfect views of jungle waterfalls and sparkling tropical waters. "Slumdog Millionaire" composer A R Rahman complements the sumptuous scenery with appropriately alluring, exotic melodies. Unfortunately, there's trouble in paradise: When it comes to being funny, Vaughn, Favreau and Fox just can't commit. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
