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Avoid This Couples Retreat

Cast is having more fun than the audience in marital-strain rom-com

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Oct 9, 2009 8:01 AM CDT

(Newser) – New Vince Vaughn romantic comedy Couples Retreat takes a terrific cast and puts them in a stunning South Pacific location, say critics, but it's marooned them there with an unfunny script.

"Four unlikable couples gather at an all-inclusive marriage-counseling resort in this predictable rom-com," writes Ande Dagan at E! Online, but the premise and cast is "wasted by the sheer emptiness and lack of motivation in their one-dimensional characters."

There are a few chuckles in Couples, co-written by Vaughn and Jon Favreau, writes Ty Burr at the Boston Globe, but the movie "feels plastic: the jokes, the trees, the extras, the attitudes. It’s dumbed-down entertainment aimed at a dumbed-down audience."
"Ever go on a vacation where most of the people around seem to be having more fun than you?" asks Elizabeth Weitzman at the New York Daily News. "Then you already know what it'll feel like to visit Couples Retreat."

[Images (2)]

[Videos (1)]

Carlos Ponce, left, Vince Vaughn, center, and Malin Akerman are shown in a scene from "Couples Retreat." (AP Photo/Universal Pictures, John Johnson)

Vince Vaughn, center, and Jean Reno are shown in a scene from "Couples Retreat." (AP Photo/Universal Pictures, John Johnson)

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COMMENTS

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Showing 3 of 3 comments

NxBigmouthery

Oct 9, 2009 9:07 AM CDT

I saw a trailer. It had Peter Serafinowicz in it. He's great, but apparently it's a very small role. So I've basically already seen the bit of the movie I wanted to see. For those of you who don't know, PS is an English actor and comedian, one of the best mimics I've ever heard...oh and he was the voice of Darth Maul. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

Jes

Oct 9, 2009 2:00 AM CDT

Yawn. I'll catch it on HBO in a year or something. Maybe.

Circusdog

Oct 9, 2009 1:45 AM CDT

Here's an idea movie studios...If you're gonna make crap...don't charge 9 or 10 bucks to see crap. Charge 3 or 4. You'll make money! Better yet put another crap movie with it (when I was a kid this was called a double feature) and loser parents will send there kids to theaters as cheap day care like mine did!

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movie review • Vince Vaughn • romantic comedy • Jon Favreau • Jason Bateman

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Avoid This Couples Retreat