Genre– Comedy

Director – Peter Bellingsley

Cast – Vince Vaughn, Jason Bateman, Kristen Bell, Kristin Davis

Release date- October 2009

Rated- PG

Couples Retreat is about a group of four holiday-seeking couples who travel to a tropical island for a getaway. One of the couples has certain marital issues to solve and they tag their friends along so that while they resolve their issues, the rest can enjoy, and enjoy they do! But the getaway does not work out as planned. The couples indulge in therapy sessions and realise they didn’t have much option. All of a sudden the vacation turns all topsy-turvy. The problems faced by these couples take a humorous turn. Though everything is predictable, it does get a bit hilarious in parts.

Couples Retreat is a Universal Pictures comedy which does not manage to tickle your funny bone all that much. The direction gets sloppy in between. Though you do have a fair amount of fun, you just can’t help feeling that there is something missing and that you could have easily been provoked to laugh much more had the direction been a tad bit better. After all, that was exactly why you came to watch it, right? Vince Vaughn and Faizon Love manage to keep the movie going, but the others disappoint. The trials and ordeals in Bell and Bateman’s relationship and Kristin Davis and Jon Favreau’s squabbles are the highlights of the movie.

Beyond the few occasional laughs and predictable conclusions, this movie is simply too plain and gets boring after a point. Not that simple movies can’t be fun. But the whole humour element in Couples Retreat is grossly missing. There comes a point when you get frustrated just looking for some sort of catalyst for laughter but that is no where to be found. Peter Bellingsley has done a shoddy job of the movie. He could have put the cast and the script to a much better use. All through the movie, you can’t seem to remain oblivious to its many flaws. The direction seems amateurish.

This film had an issue with MPAA regarding its R rating and managed to get the current rating as PG-13. Whether any changes were made and some scenes were cut or added is unknown, but something doesn’t seem right to the eye. The movie reviews and the audience’s reactions have all been unsurprisingly negative.

But in spite of these drawbacks, Vince Vaughn and Faizon Love manage to keep you entertained with their great comic timing and effortless efforts to make you laugh. They are literally the whole and soul of the movie.

Couples Retreat is disappointing. You go expecting much more from this film but end up cursing your decision-making capabilities! If you want to see something and don’t want to put in the efforts of using your brain, then go ahead and give this movie a shot. Wont do you any harm, but wont do you any good either. Watch it totally and completely at your own risk. Watching this movie makes you want to make a getaway to some desolated island!

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