Couples Retreat

Just the trailer for Couples Retreat will have many people running for cover. The last time Vince Vaughan and Jon Favreau were in a film together was the below average Four Christmases, and the mirth free trailer for Couples Retreat won’t have any non believers converting and rushing for tickets. The film itself centres around four couples who fly to a tropical island resort for a holiday, which instead turns out to be a couples therapy holiday as opposed to Jet Ski’s and cocktails. Do hilarious consequences ensue? Not really, but with Vaughan and Favreau as co-writers there are a few laughs smattered around the place. The biggest problem is that none of the characters, or their relationships, is believable in the slightest. Therefore we need gags to plug these emotional holes, and these gags are few and far between. One other problem is that the producers must have spent quite a bit on securing a relatively decent Hollywood cast as they appear to have no money left for location shots or decent studio sets. Some of the wonky sets make Roger Moore’s The Saint look like cutting edge CGI. Throw in the hackneyed finale and you're left with a film that doesn’t look funny on paper and isn’t much better on celluloid.

The OC Film Sting Final Verdict
To be fair this could have been a lot worse, but this still feels like a 20 minute episode of a sitcom stretched to two, mostly unfunny, hours. Rating: 3/10.