Couples Retreat
Couples Retreat again casts Forgetting Sarah Marshall star Kristen Bell in a tropics set comedy. Here she’s Cynthia the wife of tightly wound Jason (Jason Bateman). Their infertile loins has put a strain on their marriage to the point (or should that be power point) where divorce is one of only two options left to them. Through a series pf charts and graphs they convince their friends that their only viable salvation is a package deal to an island oasis somewhere in equatorial azure blue waters. Their friends make up two stable couples - Dave (Vince Vaughn) and Ronnie (Malin Akerman) along with Joey (Jon Favreau) and Lucy (Kristin Davis) plus newly divorced Shane (Faizon Love) and his barely legal, high maintenance, trophy girlfriend Trudy (Kali Hawk). Fun and frolicking in the sun and surf are waylaid however when mandatory couples counselling is foisted on not just Jason and Cynthia but all four couples. French tough guy Jean Reno has shown a real flair for comedy lately and is perfect as host Marcel the psycho-babbling relationship guru. As part of a busy year John Michael Higgins and Ken Jeong are brief standouts as daybreak therapists, likewise British comedian Peter Serafinowicz playing Stanley the saccharin yet serpentine concierge. The real threat though is Colin Baiocchi as Dave’s son Kevin who steals every scene he’s in like s’mores from a vacant confectionary. Despite flagrant placement of American products in a clearly foreign (probably French) location, writer Favreau comes up with some funny and original set ups but more importantly hits a lot of “aha” and “oh yeah” moments for anyone in a long term relationship.