Film File - Couples Retreat

Four couples, a stunningly scenic South Sea island, and a few loose screws in the framework of the marriage bed are the essential ingredients in this comedy of modern nuptial manners. Eight friends decide to head off together on a 'marriage renewal' course to an earthly Garden of Eden designed to put the spring back into their jaded relationships - but, of course, things don't really turn out as intended. Dave (Vince Vaughn) and Ronnie (Malin Akerman) are the social glue of their diverse group of friends with the standard cute family, decent careers and solid prospects. Then the bombshell drops that Jason (Jason Bateman) and Cynthia (Kristen Bell) are in marital trouble after an apparently blissful eight years together. The news sends shockwaves through the relationships of Dave and Ronnie, Joey (Jon Favreau) and Lucy (Kristin Davis) and Shane (Faizon Love) and his new girlfriend Trudy (Kali Hawk). In a final effort to save the union, the warring couple consider heading to Eden Resort, a tropical island paradise in the South Pacific specialising in extensive couples' therapy. However, the only way they can afford the trip is by taking the Pelican Package, Eden Resort's group rate. What's not to like? The couple can do their counselling while their six buddies frolic in the surf and the hammocks. There's one small catch - the group discovers that all of the couples must partake in the unorthodox counselling techniques of resort's renowned 'Couples' Whisperer'- Monsieur Marcel (Jean Reno). It's all or none - everyone on the whisperer's couch or else no group rate. In 1996, Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau made a serious Hollywood debut with the low-budget global hit, 'Swingers'. The film, written by Favreau, depicted the lives of two unemployed actors trying to get happy with the ladies while making it big in LA - the film went on to become an instant classic. Amongst the lines between movie wide boys Mike and Trent are those that have since passed into the annals of urban legend: "Look at this, okay? I want you to remember this face, here. Okay? This is the guy behind the guy behind the guy." Or what about this Freudian encounter: "So, what'd you think of that Dorothy girl? The whole Judy Garland thing kinda turned me on. Does that make me some kind of fag?" - "No, baby, you're money." Or this observation on the working hours of upmarket arm candy: "Trent, the beautiful babes don't work the midnight to six shift on a Wednesday. This is like the skank shift." As well as launching both men's careers, 'Swingers' also was the unlikely beginning for 'Couples' Retreat'. In 2007, the much-loved and often-quoted movie won the Guy Movie Hall of Fame Award at Spike TV's Guys Choice Awards. Following the taping of the show, Vaughn and Favreau revisited one of their film's haunts, The Dresden Room, to celebrate. There, Vaughn pitched Favreau the concept for Couples Retreat about a group of married friends who are having typical relationship problems, with some being more extreme than others. As well as teaming up with his old writing buddy, Favreau also reached out to Scott Stuber, the producing partner with whom Vaughn had collaborated on the 2006 anti-romantic comedy hit 'The Break-Up'. Director Peter Billingsley, a former child actor, makes his debut on the film. First off, 'Couples' Retreat' is no 'Swingers' and lacks the verbal and hilarious bite of the 1997 film. It is, however, a breezy comedy where a solid cast are harnessed into good ensemble work - added to by Reno's maniac 'whisperer' and his sidekick, the musclebound Salvatore (Carlos Ponce), who takes the ladies down a romantic memory lane much to the displeasure of their suburbanite other halves, complete with their middle aged spread. Adding to the Disney-style fantasy is the fact that this Eden is a game of two halves - the eastside catering to the excessive hedonism the couples expected, and their own west side - an alternative energy hell where continual, emotionally draining 'sessions' are the order of the day. Infused with the relationship psychobabble found everywhere nowadays from David Letterman's on-air confessional to Oprah's tear-stained sofa, 'Couples' Retreat' does poke some snappy jabs at love, marriage and keeping the fire burning when the log pile has dwindled. Overall, it's undemanding stuff with enough laughs to just about cover the cost of admission. Most memorable of all are the postcard sunsets of that island paradise - just the kind of spot couples will likely look to as their ideal honeymoon jaunt.