I am proud to say that I happily rejoiced when I saw Jason Bateman wearing a Northwestern shirt in Couples Retreat. As director Peter Billingsley’s second film, my interest in the film grew for that shirt, but was shadowed by how long I had to wait to see it.
Although I did enjoy it, it was a little difficult trying to connect with the four very different couples depicted: the preppy, over-organized couple on the cusp of divorce (Bateman and Kristen Bell); the happily married duo with two kids who never went on their honeymoon (Vince Vaughn and Malin Akerman); the unfaithful couple who has been together since high school (Jon Favreau and Kristin Davis) and the divorcee who goes on the retreat with his new girlfriend, 20 years younger than he is (Faizon Love and Kali Hawk). Each actor essentially plays a version of his/her archetypes — Bateman is a more overbearing Michael Bluth, Bell is a more organized Sarah Marshall, Vaughn is a cross between a sensitive Wes Mantooth and Gary Grobowski and Favreau is more like a bitchier Doctor from Elf.
Bateman and Bell forcibly recruit their married friends to the resort, aptly named “Eden,” where it does in fact look like a screen saver. We see the ups and downs of these fictional marriages when the friends find out that the resort has more restrictions and therapy (with a killer cast including John Michael Higgins and Ken Jeong) than partying or vacationing. Following the head honcho’s slightly unconventional guide to marital bliss, Vaughn somehow manages to get scraped by a shark, Favreau gets an awkward body massage and everyone eats five-star meals. Yet back at home (implied Chicagoland) is a son that goes to the bathroom in showroom toilets, a grandfather with poor parenting skills, a rebellious teenage daughter and a projector waiting for the PowerPoint of their trip.
However, the combination of “paradise,” no outside communication and a creepy manager evidently can change a couple’s status — and can be seen in under two hours.
It’s pleasantly (and unnoticeably) accompanied by music by A.R. Rahman, but no “Jai Ho” sadly. But the movie includes an all-guys phone conversation à la Sex and the City, a super long and awkwardly sexual yoga scene and a Wizard of Oz-like ending, just short of ruby red slippers. Even though I would currently rather be in sunny Eden now that the weather has started to cool, I still opt for the real life. It was fun and I had some laughs. But I guess that’s why they call it a retreat.