Couple's Retreat review

Jason (Jason Bateman) and Cynthia (Kristin Bell) hit a rough patch in their marriage and plan a trip to a tropical island getaway to rekindle their marriage. There, they can jetski, sunbathe, and get counselling on their marriage from professionals. The catch is it’s far too expensive for their budget. However, if they can convince two other couples (Dave & Ronnie [Vince Vaughn and Malin Akerman] & Shane & Trudy [Faizon Love and Kali Hawk] )to join them in a package deal, it is.

After some humourous efforts to convince them, the band of six decides to go. Off they jet to a tropical paradise, only to find that counseling begins at 6am!

I saw it this weekend and I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised. It wasn’t anything groundbreaking, but it was funny and had some great characters in it. The funniest scenes are from the supporting cast and not Vince Vaughn. Favreau and Bell are excellent as the high school sweethearts who can no longer stand each other, while Vaughn’s son (Colin Biaocchi) steals scenes with his pottie training.

The women in the movie don’t have much do to other than look good in bikinis, and they all pull that off easily. Probably the biggest problem is that the film was originally intended to be an R-rated film, but was changed to a PG-13 flick, which left a lot of potential laughs on the cutting room floor. My guess is the unrated DVD will be even better than the movie.