Couples Retreat

Last Friday night my wife and I went on a double date with the Smores. We decided to grab some drinks then see the Vince Vaughn movie Couples Retreat.

The evening started at Las Margaritas where the four of us decided to grab some appetizers and have a few pitchers of margaritas. The food was wonderful and the drinks were even better. After the first pitcher, Mr. Smore and I decided to act like over possessive gorillas and have a short-lived drinking contest in front of our women. I say short-lived for multiple reasons, first, we only had an hour before the movie began, second, each margarita was $8 each, and finally, we and not young frat boys and the drinks seem to be much stronger these days. On a side note, in my opinion, I won the contest.

A bit tipsy, our wives drove us to the movie. Unfortunately, we missed the show time we wanted, but we were able to wait another hour for the next show. Fortunately, there was a bar in the movie theater. The contest continued.

Eventually we made it into the movie to see Couples Retreat. I wasn’t sure what to think about this movie before seeing it. I love Vince Vaughn. He is what I aspire to be but never could muster the courage to say or do the things he does. He is the everyman. On the other hand, I’d only heard bad thing about the movie, “It might be more fun to stay home and argue with your spouse rather than going to the Vince Vaughn, Jon Favreau comedy Couple’s Retreat”, says Seattle Times movie critic Moira Macdonald.

So starting the movie I decided to do what I normally do, not to compare it to any other movie I’d ever seen and let the movie take me where it wanted to go. I’m glad I did, because I enjoyed it.

I can honestly say that I don’t think I would have liked this movie 10 years ago, before I was married or in a serious relationship. This is something that is happening to me more and more often. One example that comes to mind is the movie Knocked Up, I know I would never have liked this movie before I had my kid. Anyway, back to the point, I enjoyed the witty humor of a bunch of married people going to a marriage counselor on a far off island.

Don’t read this paragraph if you don’t want to know anything about the movie. The premise is, a couple with marriage issues drags 3 of their couple friends on a trip to an island where they will have the perfect getaway weekend. When they show up they find out there is a strict schedule they have to follow. There is a sister island that is designed for singles that draws all of the couples, but they are not allowed to go there. The marriage counselors do more harm than good and eventually one of the couples split up, and the girl, a young 20 year old dating an older 40 something, leaves for the fun island. The whole group goes to the other island to bring her back but end up saving their marriages on their own.

No, this movie will not win any awards. Yes, it’s perfect for a Red Box rental or wait for it on HBO. If you can avoid it, don’t spend the $20 for you and a date to just walk in the door at the theater. You’re not missing anything by watching it at home. There are no big explosions or CGI. But if you do end up going to the theater to see it, at least it’s not a complete waist of time. The movie isn’t bad. And if you have the option, I advise having a few drinks before hand, the movie will be even better.

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