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    Couples Retreat

    Reviewed by
    psterl3384@

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    This comedy movie had great potential and would have appealed to an older audience as it deals with couples issues. There are many forms of comedy but this movie could not make up its mind as to which style that it embodied. Some movies are comical by simply telling a real-life situation that on its own has funny moments without deviating from events that could REALLY happen. (examples like Eight is enough or TV's All in the Family) This movie could have followed that format and the humour would evolve from the assorted therapy sessions, where the couples would unravel all their foibles to their partner's surprise etc. But the story goes from serious to unbelievable to serious... I found that I wasn't sure a few times if it was supposed to be funny or not. Was the shark attack humorous? It didn't come across that way as Vaughn was very upset and hostile towards all the others... I think humor would have been added if the shark bit the rear end of his bathing suit off... But Vaughn was mad at everyone and I thought it was uncomfortable... The guitar hero scene was a complete waste and served no real purpose. It too had potential but left me scratching my head as to why the scene was even needed. The two minute thunder storm? Not being able to find a well-lit up and NOISY singles spot on the same island? I usually like Vaughn's character where he speaks in a bumbling rapid-fire non-sensical way. But as it turns out his was the only marriage that was fine. That was a lost opportunity. I would say that the therapists could have enhanced the storyline by exposing the inner workings of each character, and create some kind of role play for therapy. I did like the Yoga guy. His acting was the best part of the movie. The guru and his parting gifts was lame. It wasn't a horrible movie. It just needed to be funnier more often.

    5
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    psterl3384@  13.10.2009 age: 50+ 202 reviews

    Agreed with everything you said. Although I thought it was a truly poorly written and acted movie. The 30 second thunder storm was a joke and all the couples didn't even have real issues. Dissapointed with Vince Vaughn's directing and acting in this movie. Waste of 10 dollars.

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    physical_graffiti123@  16.10.2009 age: 18-25 3 reviews

    Thanks for the comment. I agree with you about the poor script. I just assumed my assorted comments implied a poor script. This was truly a tired effort at comedy. There wasn't even the classic groin shot!! It was as though a few of Vaughn's buddies threw this together over a couple of brews, with Vaughn saying," Don't worry about this scene, I'll just ad-lib. Oh and we need to add a black guy to the story. How about we add a broke fat guy who has a young girl friend (who is attracted to an older lazy FAT man with no money or redeeming features? )" As for the acting, I find all these movies have good acting for the type of movie it is. Girls act dumb and wide-eyed. The guys act contrite/sincere at the end of the story for their assorted chicanery. It was a formula used for the old I Love Lucy shows, but at least Lucy had the excuse of having to grind out a show every day.

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    psterl3384@  17.10.2009 age: 50+ 202 reviews

    I must disagree with you about one thing: the fact that you actually took the time and effort to write such an elaborate review about such a below-average piece of junk. I feel as if you give it more "respect" than it deserves, by calling it a "comedy" and a "movie". Just to note, I do agree more or less with most of your other reviews (even if we don't exactly watch all of the same films), but for this one - 1 word would have sufficed.

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    drozzy@  7.4.2010 age: 26-35 55 reviews

    Hi Drozzy. Thanks for your input. Yes I wrote too much in this review. I Was reading other reviews that were saying it was hilarious, so I wanted to explain why I felt that it was a dud movie. It seems like all the romantic comedies have forgotten the basic formula for humor. There HAS to be a chemistry build up before the really funny stuff can happen. That is why Hangover was so successful. Before they got to Vegas, we learned a lot about each guy and were sympathetic. But I find many movies today go on some kind of assumption which makes the whole thing feel empty. Cop Out is another example. And yes I write too much... lol.

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    psterl3384@  7.4.2010 age: 50+ 202 reviews

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