BrightestYoungThings: Film Review: Couples Retreat

I will freely admit to actually being pretty excited to see this movie.
I mean, for one, I will see anything with Vince Vaughn in it (see "Four Christmases"), and I will also probably see anything with Justin Bateman too (like "The EX") and I sort of think John Favreau is a genius (Elf? Swingers? that kid's movie he did with Rainn Wilson? Everything?) and Jean Reno has been my other creepy old man crush (see also: Christopher Walken) and it is getting cold, and it is set on a tropical island and Kristin Bell, Malin Ackerman and Kristin Stewart are actually pretty competent females in comedies and...anyway.

I did not expect it to be good, but I did expect to like it.

However, I can't really say I did all that much.
In the long term I think it all comes down to too much of a split focus: 3 couples (token black one getting the least attention making it all the more token, and don't even try to deny it) in varying levels of marital trouble get coerced by their friends, also a couple in marital trouble, and a power point presentation at a kids' birthday party to go someplace called "EDEN" to jet ski, eat, drink and maybe, if they feel like it, work on "couple building skills".

Now, secretly I hoped that this would turn into some kind of a swingers version of that hilariously misguided Rosie O'Donnell/Paul Mercurio/Iman sex romp, "Exit to Eden", but it didn't. Which sucked, frankly. There was a lot of almost dirty jokes, almost hilarious moments, a lot of male vs. female vs. the island situations, a rather gross yoga instructor and Jean Reno in a maroon speedo.

You laugh sometimes but mainly you sort of wish for them all to be in something a little better and a little less tired.
Lets just put it this way, it was no "Whatever happens in Vegas", that's for sure.

So, in lieu of writing any more about this (read the NYT review or something instead), lets watch some "Exit to Eden" clips: