Saturday 17 October 2009

Couples Retreat (15)

With an all-star comedy cast, a hilarious trailer and written by Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau, you would expect Couples Retreat to be very funny. And you will not be disappointed.

Couple Jason (Jason Bateman, Juno, The Ex) and Cynthia (Kristen Bell, Veronica Mars, Forgetting Sarah Marshall) feel like their marriage is at breaking point and are considering a divorce. They think the best thing for them to do is to take a vacation to Eden, a resort which specialises in helping couples work out their issues. The problem is the resort is so expensive that they can only go on a package deal- with three other couples. So, they enlist the help of their friends and head to Eden.

The couples expect a nice, relaxing holiday away from their tedious home routines but they soon discover they have itineraries beginning at 6am including counselling and skill building workshops just as swimming with sharks and stripping down to underwear. This is where the other three couples find out they have a lot of problems too and then the fun really begins.

The film is a mixture of really sweet moments as the couples ponder their relationship to laugh-out-loud moments, such as the yoga session. The main cast are very funny but the real gems are the supporting cast- watch out for Jean Leno as their group leader, Salvadore the yoga instructor and Vince Vaughn’s two children- they are just hilarious.

The ending is very predictable but regardless of that, Couples Retreat is a fun film which makes you leave the cinema with a smile on your face.