‘Couples Retreat’

Director: Peter Billingsley

Cast: Vince Vaughn, John Favreau, Jason Bateman, Malin Akerman, Kristen Bell

Grade: D

Casting is probably the most underrated and infrequently criticized facet of film production and, in cases such as ‘Couples Retreat,’ warrants more careful scrutiny. Opposite Vince Vaughn, Jon Favreau, Jason Bateman and Faizon Love, all of whom are physically imperfect and endearing, is one of the most witless and untalented collection of actresses ever assembled.

Perhaps Malin Akerman, Kristen Davis, Kristen Bell and Kali Hawk are tolerable separate from one another and in lighter doses, but here they serve merely to enliven previous decaying stereotypes about how women are portrayed in mainstream cinema. The quartet of talentless actresses helps to cement the film’s burgeoning reputation as the most shallow, clumsily directed and utterly disappointing comedy in recent memory.

Seeking solace from the inherent repressiveness of suburbia, angst-ridden couples Dave (Vince Vaughn) and Ronnie (Malin Akerman), Shane (Faizon Love) and Trudy (Kali Hawk) and Joey (Jon Favreau) and Lucy (Kristen Davis) agree to accompany Jason (Jason Bateman) and Cynthia (Kristen Bell) on an excursion to an all-inclusive tropical resort when the latter couple admits that their marriage is on the rocks.

Expecting constant partying and island merriment, they instead find themselves obligated to partake in relationship counseling, much to the chagrin of all but Jason and Cynthia, who are dead set on reviving their marriage. Combating the urge to venture to the ‘singles side’ of the island, the couples, in achingly unfunny fashion, attempt to reconcile their various disputes – Dave and Ronnie are at odds concerning their respective roles, Joey and Lucy desire to cheat on one another, Trudy is too energetic and excitable for the old and overweight Shane – with nary a sincere emotion.

Seeing Vaughn and Favreau converse on screen brings back invaluable memories, but recognizing that they are no longer their lively, womanizing selves is a sobering realization. It’s hard believe that it’s been 13 years since ‘Swingers,’ when they showed up four hours late for parties and waited six days to call their dates. Virtually sleepwalking through ‘Couples Retreat,’ Vaughn is a bloated shadow of his former self, a lethargic yet still hilarious performer mired in a character and project ill-suited to his strengths. Jason Bateman is perfect as always as the wryly hilarious straight man and Faizon Love tackles his first major screen role in years with veteran comic poise.

Perhaps fittingly, the males are offset by the most inane assortment of ditzy, improbably hot actresses, each an average of about 13 years younger than their partner in the film. Apparently Universal Pictures was so obsessed with reaching a few more males ages 18-25 that the studio cast Kristen Bell opposite the much older Jason Bateman over, say, Academy Award winner Jennifer Connelly, who, at 38, is still drop-dead gorgeous. With Favreau and Davis the only remotely plausible couple in the lot, one can’t help but consider the incessant superficiality that defines the picture.

And as if the actresses cast were not enough to irk me, the project was helmed by Peter Billingsley, a first-time filmmaker who is better known as Ralphie from ‘A Christmas Story’ (1983). Seeing as how they passed on a plethora of talented, still beautiful actresses to cast Malin Akerman as Vince Vaughn’s significant other, I don’t know what I should have expected. And seeing as how the picture raked in $34 million at the box office its opening weekend, we can’t expect much change in the future. Does anyone know what Macaulay Culkin is up to these days? Maybe he can direct the sequel.

smlittma@syr.edu

Published on October 14, 2009 at 12:00 pm