Couples Retreat or The Break-Up Part 2

October 1st, 2009 | POSTED BY Spencer Fornaciari

Conceptually Couples Retreat has everything to make it a good film. It has a great cast including Vince Vaughn, Jon Favreau, Jason Bateman, Kristin Bell, Kristin Davis, and Malin Ackerman. It was written by Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau – this is Jon Favreau’s first major script since Made. The director Peter Billingsley hasn’t directed much, but has been a long time collaborator of Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn, on film such as Made and Iron Man.

My biggest problem though is that the trailer is looks pretty weak (I’ve embedded it below), especially when compared to the trailer for Zombieland that I spoke of yesterday. Additionally, a large portion of this cast and crew worked together on The Break-Up a few years back, which was mediocre. That being said, The Break-Up was a moderate success making over 200 million dollars world wide.

The trailer seems to make it look like the film is built on shock value, much like The Break-Up. The best films from Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn have been built upon witty dialog and interesting characters. Jon Favreau’s involvement as a writer might be the solution this problem.

Also, I’m concerned for Jason Bateman. He is a wonderful comedic actor, but has been stuck with terrible parts the last few years (Hancock, The Break-Up, The Ex), much like his Arrested Development co-star Will Arnett. Hopefully he is going to have the opportunity to showcase his skills, rather than playing a bit part. Or maybe I’m wrong and Arrested Development was the fluke.

I’ll be eager to see how it does at the box office when it comes out October 9th. I don’t think I’ll see it in theaters, but I will see it. I hope they prove me wrong, we need more good comedies.  After all, if Hollywood is going to pony the money up to someone, Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau are two good people.

Couples Retreat, Jason Bateman, Jon Favreau, The Break-Up, Vince Vaughn