Couples Retreat
starring Vince Vaughn, Jason Bateman, Malin Akerman, Jon Favreau, Kristin Davis, Driten Bell and Jean Reno
written by Jon Favreau, Vince Vaughn, Dana Fox, Curtis Hanson, Peter Billingsley and Greg
Beeman
directed by Peter Billingsley
Rating: ♦◊◊◊◊
A group of married friends gets conned by their friend Jason (Jason Bateman) into going on a “couple skills” retreat. They are deceived about the true nature of the retreat and instead are lured by the carrot of the luxury, tropical resort called “Eden”that it is a part of. Jason and his wife Cynthia (Kristen Bell) are eager to go because they are having genuine marital problems, but if they can gather a group then they can attend the luxury retreat at a bargain price. The catch is that once all the couples are on the island resort they either have to endure the mandatory “couples retreat” therapy program or else forfeit the trip. No one wants to forfeit.
The following morning each couple is assigned a therapist who proceeds to find problems with even the most successful pair. I suppose this is true of real life as well. Since it is the business of therapists to treat people they are prone to discover problems anywhere. No marriage is ideal. Duh!!
In the end all the couples discovered new aspects of their lives together giving the whole episode some patina of acceptability. But I am very angry about that - that therapy should be tolerated even as a comedic device. I reject therapy, and I reject psychiatry most of all. Psychiatry is a worthless and depraved profession. I have reasons for my opinion.
The most interesting and entertaining character is the yoga instructor, Salvadore, played by Carlos Ponce in a Speedo swim suit. I felt sure, absolutely sure when I saw him that it was Hank Azaria. I thought maybe “Carlos Ponce” was an Azaria pseudonym. But wikipedia taught me that Carlos Ponce is a real guy, a Puerto Rican singer-actor. He was hilarious.