Couples Retreat (Billingsley, 2009): Vince Vaughn and John Favreau ensemble comedy - Page 3

chris_sc77 · 09-09-09, 09:41 PM

^Probably because of the performance of Bruno and Funny People.

Matthew Chmiel · 09-10-09, 12:18 AM

The film, with the exception of a specific scene involving Favreau, is pretty clean.

PG-13 or R, no MPAA rating doesn't stop the film from being a raging pile of shit.

Zen Peckinpah · 09-10-09, 04:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matthew Chmiel

The film, with the exception of a specific scene involving Favreau, is pretty clean.

PG-13 or R, no MPAA rating doesn't stop the film from being a raging pile of shit.

Did you see a screening? If it's on par with The Break-Up my assumption is that Bateman is the only good thing, maybe Favreau this time around from the trailers. Too bad, I love both of them.

d2cheer · 09-10-09, 04:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matthew Chmiel

The film, with the exception of a specific scene involving Favreau, is pretty clean.

PG-13 or R, no MPAA rating doesn't stop the film from being a raging pile of shit.

Care to elaborate?

JimRochester · 09-10-09, 05:15 PM

I think it looks pretty good so as long as it gets a passable review from some people who see it, it will be a good one to take the wife to.

Is there a release date?

Matthew Chmiel · 09-10-09, 09:50 PM

Yeah, I saw it about three-to-four weeks ago (whenever I posted that comment about me going to a test screening). Billingsley was in attendance and I almost had the urge to give him the middle finger on the way out.

As per the opening credits, Favreau and Vaughn share credits on writing the screenplay; but the glory days of Swingers and Made are long gone.

The best way I can sum it up:

- Vince Vaughn phones his performance in as he's basically playing Vince Vaughn.

- Jason Bateman and Favreau are the only two people in the entire picture who actually got me to laugh (briefly); even if Favreau plays a despicable asshole throughout the picture.

- The women are all one-note characters. I've never seen a film where each female tries to outdo the other on who can be the bigger bitch. Malin Akerman, who is given not a single thing to do, is the only somewhat likable female character this film has.

- Faizon Love feels out of place; almost as if his character is there to show that white people have black friends.

- There's a five-minute long scene devoted to product placement for Guitar Hero 5. I thought I was watching the Fred Savage masterpiece The Wizard.

- The ending is predictable and downright horseshit.

- Aren't romantic comedies supposed to be romantic and/or funny? Because this film has neither one going for it.

All of the people I went to see this with hated it and I never saw the girl I was dating again after this. I would like to say Couples Retreat ruined my relationship. That's how awful it is.

JimRochester · 09-10-09, 10:15 PM

^ But other than that it was pretty good?

Matthew Chmiel · 09-10-09, 10:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimRochester

^ But other than that it was pretty good?

Pretty good if you like your films with little resemblance of character and story development.

chris_sc77 won't like it, because the film doesn't run longer than an hour and a half (no end credits due to it being a test screening).

Dr. DVD · 09-10-09, 10:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matthew Chmiel

Yeah, I saw it about three-to-four weeks ago (whenever I posted that comment about me going to a test screening). Billingsley was in attendance and I almost had the urge to give him the middle finger on the way out.

As per the opening credits, Favreau and Vaughn share credits on writing the screenplay; but the glory days of Swingers and Made are long gone.

The best way I can sum it up:

- Vince Vaughn phones his performance in as he's basically playing Vince Vaughn.

- Jason Bateman and Favreau are the only two people in the entire picture who actually got me to laugh (briefly); even if Favreau plays a despicable asshole throughout the picture.

- The women are all one-note characters. I've never seen a film where each female tries to outdo the other on who can be the bigger bitch. Malin Akerman, who is given not a single thing to do, is the only somewhat likable female character this film has.

- Faizon Love feels out of place; almost as if his character is there to show that white people have black friends.

- There's a five-minute long scene devoted to product placement for Guitar Hero 5. I thought I was watching the Fred Savage masterpiece The Wizard.

- The ending is predictable and downright horseshit.

- Aren't romantic comedies supposed to be romantic and/or funny? Because this film has neither one going for it.

All of the people I went to see this with hated it and I never saw the girl I was dating again after this. I would like to say Couples Retreat ruined my relationship. That's how awful it is.

I hope they do some editing, this sounds bad. Unrelated note. Did the girl give you a break-up talk after this, or was it one of those "silent treatment" deals where they just quit returning phone calls?

Matthew Chmiel · 09-10-09, 10:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr. DVD

I hope they do some editing, this sounds bad. Unrelated note. Did the girl give you a break-up talk after this, or was it one of those "silent treatment" deals where they just quit returning phone calls?

The cut we saw couldn't be much longer than 90-95 minutes. There's no going back because all the problems lay within the film's weak script and Peter Billingsley's lack of direction.

Regarding the girl, I was dating her for a few weeks up to this point, and she shot me the rejection over an e-mail.

If I was dating her for months, I'd be upset and frustrated; but nearly a month, I found the situation to be quite hilarious.

JimRochester · 09-11-09, 07:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matthew Chmiel

Pretty good if you like your films with little resemblance of character and story development.

Perfect, I'm in!

Actually with that cast I would have had higher hopes. But if Sandra Bullock can totally screw the pooch with Steve then this group can retread a stinker like this. This time of year is bad for movies, most of them are junk. I'm looking for something good to take the wife to.

Michael Corvin · 09-11-09, 08:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by awil1026

For me, Vaughn is a potential deal-breaker. I used to find him funny, but now he's barely tolerable.

I dunno about deal breaker, but his star has definitely lost some luster and mostly because of this:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matthew Chmiel

- Vince Vaughn phones his performance in as he's basically playing Vince Vaughn.

Which seems to be the case in every movie he does.

RichC2 · 09-11-09, 09:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chris_sc77

^Probably because of the performance of Bruno and Funny People.

But Bruno had too many painfully unfunny parts and Funny People was way too long. Nothing to do with the R ratings.

Matthew Chmiel · 09-11-09, 11:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RichC2

But Bruno had too many painfully unfunny parts and Funny People was way too long. Nothing to do with the R ratings.

I'll agree with the masses that Bruno was a disappointment compared to the hilarity that was Borat; I also think Funny People was a box office disappointment as most people were expecting a comedy and instead got a drama.

d2cheer · 09-11-09, 12:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matthew Chmiel

Yeah, I saw it about three-to-four weeks ago (whenever I posted that comment about me going to a test screening). Billingsley was in attendance and I almost had the urge to give him the middle finger on the way out.

As per the opening credits, Favreau and Vaughn share credits on writing the screenplay; but the glory days of Swingers and Made are long gone.

The best way I can sum it up:

- Vince Vaughn phones his performance in as he's basically playing Vince Vaughn.

- Jason Bateman and Favreau are the only two people in the entire picture who actually got me to laugh (briefly); even if Favreau plays a despicable asshole throughout the picture.

- The women are all one-note characters. I've never seen a film where each female tries to outdo the other on who can be the bigger bitch. Malin Akerman, who is given not a single thing to do, is the only somewhat likable female character this film has.

- Faizon Love feels out of place; almost as if his character is there to show that white people have black friends.

- There's a five-minute long scene devoted to product placement for Guitar Hero 5. I thought I was watching the Fred Savage masterpiece The Wizard.

- The ending is predictable and downright horseshit.

- Aren't romantic comedies supposed to be romantic and/or funny? Because this film has neither one going for it.

All of the people I went to see this with hated it and I never saw the girl I was dating again after this. I would like to say Couples Retreat ruined my relationship. That's how awful it is.

Typically what type of comedies do you like? I am curious to see if our tastes are the similar. Generally comedies I think will be good usually are but I was wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy off on Land of the Lost.

I think this one looks good and will check it out.

Dr. DVD · 10-07-09, 05:28 PM

Well, it's about to open.

I have to say, this doesn't look that great to me. What's more disappointing is the fact that this isn't something cobbled together by studio hacks, this was written by the men who brought us Swingers and Made for Pete's sake! Also, the cast is almost a who's who of actors/actresses with good comedic timing. If the movie only had two of the cast in it and produced no laughs, that would be one thing, but to have this much talent involved and not getting any funny stuff is a tragedy.

GizmoDVD · 10-07-09, 05:36 PM

The three girls in their undies make this a must see...on Blu-ray for me.

Tarantino · 10-07-09, 06:17 PM

How sad...

jfoobar · 10-07-09, 06:34 PM

10% rating on RT so far, albeit with only 10 reviews posted.

doubledown44 · 10-07-09, 07:52 PM

Jackskeleton · 10-07-09, 09:18 PM

I saw it a couple of months back. They went back for a lot of reshoots after my test screening of it according to Favreau's twitter. But I thought the movie was pretty much a generic cookie cutter film made to appeal to the average joe. I didn't like it and it was beyond formulaic and indeed, the characters weren't fleshed out at all.

I laughed maybe.. once or twice.

Quote:

- There's a five-minute long scene devoted to product placement for Guitar Hero 5. I thought I was watching the Fred Savage masterpiece The Wizard.

That was seriously the worse thing of the film. Let's break out to a Guitar Hero duel that could have been cut out completely and the plot (lack of) wouldn't have suffered.

NoirFan · 10-08-09, 12:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Giles

I've never found him tolerable.

I thought he was good in the underrated Clay Pigeons, and he certainly lit up the screen in Swingers. Trouble is, he's been playing the same role ever since, with increasingly diminishing returns.

Matthew Chmiel · 10-08-09, 03:10 AM

I told you all the film sucked.

The film is now down to 08% on the tomatometer with an astounding 12 reviews. Can't wait to see how low it goes down to when a majority of the reviews come online tomorrow night.

JimRochester · 10-08-09, 08:36 AM

Not looking good. I'm not surprised given the time of year but with the star power I was assuming it would be better than that. My daughter is home from college this weekend so we may go on Monday to check it out because we can get in for free.

SkipKassidy · 10-08-09, 01:45 PM

Matthew Chmiel's assessment is pretty much spot on.

Just a bunch of people who wanted to take a vacation and get paid for it at the same time. (Only the magic that existed with Swingers forgot its boarding pass.)

Pretty much devoid of humor and has some of the worst product placement I've seen in a movie. (What is it about The Frat Pack and Applebee's? First Talladega Nights and now Couples Retreat.)

09-09-09, 09:41 PM	#51
chris_sc77 Suspended Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Bellefontaine, Ohio Posts: 5,628	Re: Couples Retreat (Billingsley, 2009): Vince Vaughn and John Favreau ensemble comed ^Probably because of the performance of Bruno and Funny People.

09-10-09, 12:18 AM	#52
Matthew Chmiel DVD Talk Limited Edition Join Date: May 2000 Location: Las Vegas, NV Posts: 6,835	Re: Couples Retreat (Billingsley, 2009): Vince Vaughn and John Favreau ensemble comed The film, with the exception of a specific scene involving Favreau, is pretty clean. PG-13 or R, no MPAA rating doesn't stop the film from being a raging pile of shit. __________________ Now on Twitter! PlayStation Network / Xbox 360 Gamertag: CupboardOfLove

09-10-09, 05:15 PM	#55
JimRochester DVD Talk Hall of Fame Join Date: Sep 1999 Location: Rochester, NY. USA Posts: 8,301	Re: Couples Retreat (Billingsley, 2009): Vince Vaughn and John Favreau ensemble comed I think it looks pretty good so as long as it gets a passable review from some people who see it, it will be a good one to take the wife to. Is there a release date? __________________ Pan58" Plasma,Pioneer vsx91, SONY s350, Toshiba A35, Def-Tech speakers supercube sub. Most wanted BD: Armgeddon/BeutyBeast/BevHillsCop/BigRed1/BTTF/Bugsy/DieHard4(R)/Gettysburg/GrossPoint/Honeymoon Vegas/JurassicPark/LionKing/MemphisBelle/Midway/Mohicans/MusicMan/PH(R)/PT&A/Raiders/SoundMusic/Stripes/Sleepless/StarWars/SPR/3King/TinCup/Tombstone/Tora/TrueLies/USMarsh/WhileUSleeping. Last edited by JimRochester; 09-10-09 at 05:45 PM.

09-10-09, 09:50 PM	#56
Matthew Chmiel DVD Talk Limited Edition Join Date: May 2000 Location: Las Vegas, NV Posts: 6,835	Re: Couples Retreat (Billingsley, 2009): Vince Vaughn and John Favreau ensemble comed Yeah, I saw it about three-to-four weeks ago (whenever I posted that comment about me going to a test screening). Billingsley was in attendance and I almost had the urge to give him the middle finger on the way out. As per the opening credits, Favreau and Vaughn share credits on writing the screenplay; but the glory days of Swingers and Made are long gone. The best way I can sum it up: - Vince Vaughn phones his performance in as he's basically playing Vince Vaughn. - Jason Bateman and Favreau are the only two people in the entire picture who actually got me to laugh (briefly); even if Favreau plays a despicable asshole throughout the picture. - The women are all one-note characters. I've never seen a film where each female tries to outdo the other on who can be the bigger bitch. Malin Akerman, who is given not a single thing to do, is the only somewhat likable female character this film has. - Faizon Love feels out of place; almost as if his character is there to show that white people have black friends. - There's a five-minute long scene devoted to product placement for Guitar Hero 5. I thought I was watching the Fred Savage masterpiece The Wizard. - The ending is predictable and downright horseshit. - Aren't romantic comedies supposed to be romantic and/or funny? Because this film has neither one going for it. All of the people I went to see this with hated it and I never saw the girl I was dating again after this. I would like to say Couples Retreat ruined my relationship. That's how awful it is. __________________ Now on Twitter! PlayStation Network / Xbox 360 Gamertag: CupboardOfLove Last edited by Matthew Chmiel; 09-10-09 at 09:52 PM.

09-10-09, 10:15 PM	#57
JimRochester DVD Talk Hall of Fame Join Date: Sep 1999 Location: Rochester, NY. USA Posts: 8,301	Re: Couples Retreat (Billingsley, 2009): Vince Vaughn and John Favreau ensemble comed ^ But other than that it was pretty good? __________________ Pan58" Plasma,Pioneer vsx91, SONY s350, Toshiba A35, Def-Tech speakers supercube sub. Most wanted BD: Armgeddon/BeutyBeast/BevHillsCop/BigRed1/BTTF/Bugsy/DieHard4(R)/Gettysburg/GrossPoint/Honeymoon Vegas/JurassicPark/LionKing/MemphisBelle/Midway/Mohicans/MusicMan/PH(R)/PT&A/Raiders/SoundMusic/Stripes/Sleepless/StarWars/SPR/3King/TinCup/Tombstone/Tora/TrueLies/USMarsh/WhileUSleeping.

10-07-09, 05:28 PM	#66
Dr. DVD DVD Talk Legend Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Daytona Beach, FL Posts: 12,754	Re: Couples Retreat (Billingsley, 2009): Vince Vaughn and John Favreau ensemble comed Well, it's about to open. I have to say, this doesn't look that great to me. What's more disappointing is the fact that this isn't something cobbled together by studio hacks, this was written by the men who brought us Swingers and Made for Pete's sake! Also, the cast is almost a who's who of actors/actresses with good comedic timing. If the movie only had two of the cast in it and produced no laughs, that would be one thing, but to have this much talent involved and not getting any funny stuff is a tragedy. __________________ “The time will come, the election will come, when your work and your ballots will change the world, and it’s worth fighting for,” -John Kerry's concession speech

10-07-09, 05:36 PM	#67
GizmoDVD DVD Talk Legend Join Date: Jan 2000 Location: Southern CA Posts: 21,240	Re: Couples Retreat (Billingsley, 2009): Vince Vaughn and John Favreau ensemble comed The three girls in their undies make this a must see...on Blu-ray for me. __________________ HD DVD = XA1, A30 / 351 Discs Blu-ray = LG BD390 / 263 Discs (As of 9/13/09) XBL: SharpWoodenStke

10-07-09, 06:17 PM	#68
Tarantino DVD Talk Hall of Fame Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: On my iBook in Central California Posts: 9,882	Re: Couples Retreat (Billingsley, 2009): Vince Vaughn and John Favreau ensemble comed How sad... __________________ Our Quest for the IMDB Top 250 Twitter PSN - Kleeberg XBox Live - Kleeberg

10-07-09, 06:34 PM	#69
jfoobar DVD Talk Legend Join Date: Jun 2000 Posts: 24,092	Re: Couples Retreat (Billingsley, 2009): Vince Vaughn and John Favreau ensemble comed 10% rating on RT so far, albeit with only 10 reviews posted. __________________ "There's one thing that can be said for true losers. They're consistent to a degree that would suggest luck has little to do with it." -- Unknown

10-07-09, 07:52 PM	#70
doubledown44 Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: The Falls Posts: 415	Re: Couples Retreat (Billingsley, 2009): Vince Vaughn and John Favreau ensemble comed Nvm __________________ Twitter Last edited by doubledown44; 10-07-09 at 07:55 PM.

10-08-09, 03:10 AM	#73
Matthew Chmiel DVD Talk Limited Edition Join Date: May 2000 Location: Las Vegas, NV Posts: 6,835	Re: Couples Retreat (Billingsley, 2009): Vince Vaughn and John Favreau ensemble comed I told you all the film sucked. The film is now down to 08% on the tomatometer with an astounding 12 reviews. Can't wait to see how low it goes down to when a majority of the reviews come online tomorrow night. __________________ Now on Twitter! PlayStation Network / Xbox 360 Gamertag: CupboardOfLove

10-08-09, 08:36 AM	#74
JimRochester DVD Talk Hall of Fame Join Date: Sep 1999 Location: Rochester, NY. USA Posts: 8,301	Re: Couples Retreat (Billingsley, 2009): Vince Vaughn and John Favreau ensemble comed Not looking good. I'm not surprised given the time of year but with the star power I was assuming it would be better than that. My daughter is home from college this weekend so we may go on Monday to check it out because we can get in for free. __________________ Pan58" Plasma,Pioneer vsx91, SONY s350, Toshiba A35, Def-Tech speakers supercube sub. Most wanted BD: Armgeddon/BeutyBeast/BevHillsCop/BigRed1/BTTF/Bugsy/DieHard4(R)/Gettysburg/GrossPoint/Honeymoon Vegas/JurassicPark/LionKing/MemphisBelle/Midway/Mohicans/MusicMan/PH(R)/PT&A/Raiders/SoundMusic/Stripes/Sleepless/StarWars/SPR/3King/TinCup/Tombstone/Tora/TrueLies/USMarsh/WhileUSleeping.

10-08-09, 01:45 PM	#75
SkipKassidy Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Kingwood, TX Posts: 327	Re: Couples Retreat (Billingsley, 2009): Vince Vaughn and John Favreau ensemble comed Matthew Chmiel's assessment is pretty much spot on. Just a bunch of people who wanted to take a vacation and get paid for it at the same time. (Only the magic that existed with Swingers forgot its boarding pass.) Pretty much devoid of humor and has some of the worst product placement I've seen in a movie. (What is it about The Frat Pack and Applebee's? First Talladega Nights and now Couples Retreat.)