2009 Couples Retreat VOST Streaming
Couples Retreat
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Couples Retreat is a 2009 American
romantic comedy film directed by
Peter Billingsley, marking his directorial debut, and written by
Jon Favreau,
Vince Vaughn,
Dana Fox,
Curtis Hanson, and
Greg Beeman. Vaughn and Favreau star with
Jason Bateman,
Faizon Love,
Kristin Davis,
Malin Åkerman,
Kristen Bell,
Kali Hawk and
Jean Reno. It was released on October 9, 2009, in the United States. The film was shot mostly on the island of
Bora Bora.
Plot
Dave (
Vince Vaughn), a dealer for
Guitar Hero, and Ronnie (
Malin Åkerman), a stay-at-home mom, are a typical couple raising two young children in the suburbs of
Chicago. They experience various stresses including redecorating their house and raising their kids. Joey (
Jon Favreau) and Lucy (
Kristin Davis)
are high school sweethearts with a smart but naive teenage daughter
named Lacey. Their relationship is on the rocks and they are even
considering a divorce once Lacey goes off to college. Jason (
Jason Bateman) and Cynthia (
Kristen Bell) are a neurotic couple who've experienced multiple failed attempts to conceive, and Shane (
Faizon Love), who has recently separated from his wife, has a much younger twenty-year-old girlfriend, Trudy (
Kali Hawk).
At Dave's son's birthday party, Jason and Cynthia, using
PowerPoint,
announce their troubled marriage and they are considering divorce
because they cannot have a baby. As a last-ditch effort, they have found
a couples therapy resort named Eden. A deal called the Pelican Package
is half the normal cost if they can get three other couples to join
them. In their presentation, they show beautiful pictures of sunlit
beaches and beautiful locations. They also assure the others that the
couples therapy is purely optional.
Dave and Ronnie discuss their inability to go because of childcare
responsibilities and decline the trip. In the middle of the night, their
home security alarm is activated when Jason shows up unexpectedly to
further sell the idea of the retreat. The commotion wakes the kids, who
have overheard their parents' conversations of not being able to go
because of them. Fearing that their parents are contemplating divorce,
the kids have already arranged for Dave's father, Grandpa Jim-Jim
(played by Vince Vaughn's real-life father, Vernon Vaughn) to babysit so
their parents can go to Eden.
The retreat proves to be divided into Eden West and Eden East. West
is for couples and uses the tagline "Stay Together". East is for singles
and uses the tagline "Come Together". East and West attendees are not
allowed to intermingle.
Upon arrival at Eden West, the four couples are shown their villas. At dinner, Sctanley [
sic] (pronounced "Stanley"), the resort host (
Peter Serafinowicz),
informs them that couples therapy, which starts at 6 a.m., is actually
mandatory. If any couple fails to attend, it will be taken as an
indication that they want to leave, and a refund for Eden will be given,
although not for their airfare. The group debates what to do. After an
indulgent dinner with many delicacies, they decide to put up with "a
couple of hours" of therapy in order to enjoy the other amenities of the
resort.
In the morning, each couple meets with an assigned therapist. All
four couples learn that they have problems, even Ronnie and Dave, who
thought they were fine. They endure resort owner Marcel's (
Jean Reno) unusual methods, including swimming with and feeding
lemon sharks and yoga sessions with amorous instructor Salvadore (
Carlos Ponce).
On the fourth night, Trudy escapes to Eden East. The other seven,
encouraged by Joey who is unsatisfied with his marriage, leave to find
her. Following an argument between Cynthia and Jason, the men and women
split up. As they try to find their way to the resort, the men end up
arguing and pointing out each others' marriage mistakes.
The women run into Salvadore who takes them to Eden East. The men
come across the staff lounge where they find Sctanley playing Guitar
Hero. He threatens to report them to Marcel, but Dave challenges him to
the game (without telling Sctanley that he is involved in the game's
production). Sctanley, after having lost the wager, directs them to Eden
East, even though he knows he was tricked by Dave.
When they arrive, Dave realizes what a good thing he has with Ronnie.
He goes with her to be alone at a waterfall. Joey finds Lucy with
Salvadore and knocks him out, reuniting with his wife. Cynthia and Jason
share drinks and end up becoming intimate. Shane runs into his ex-wife,
who admits she still loves him. Shane tells Trudy to remain in Eden
East and enjoy being single, then leaves with his ex-wife. All four
couples return to Eden West.
Marcel, seeing that the couples have worked out their problems, frees
them from the therapy and allows them to go jet skiing, and with that,
really enjoy the rest of their vacation.
Cast
- Vince Vaughn and Malin Åkerman
as Dave and Ronnie (last name not revealed), a typical suburban couple
with two children. Their marriage seems fine, but each of them realize
that Dave tends to undermine Ronnie by crossing emotional boundaries and
blocking her needs due to his exhausting work. They earn the mule
(ass) as their animal spirit because they are both stubborn, and they
bear the burden of not only their troubles but also those of others. (It
is also of mention that Dave used a password similar to their animal
spirit.)
- Jon Favreau and Kristin Davis
as Joey and Lucy Tanzini, high school sweethearts that have fallen
apart due to their belief that they "missed out" on living after high
school, having been married and becoming parents immediately after and
are contemplating getting a divorce as soon as their daughter goes off
to college. They have a daughter named Lacey (Jonna Walsh) who is a
smart but somewhat rebellious teen. After reuniting they are given the
token of the wolf spirit as they are pack animals but their hearts always lie with their destined mate.
- Jason Bateman and Kristen Bell
as Jason and Cynthia Smith, a troubled couple whose idea it was to go
to Eden with their friends. Their issues stem from a lack of
communication complicated with Jason's more controlling methods and
their trouble with conceiving a baby. They are a very organized couple
and are the most interested in repairing their relationship. They are
given the token of the rabbit due to their innate ability to overcome any obstacles that stand in their way.
- Faizon Love and Kali Hawk
as Shane and Trudy, a completely polar opposite couple. Trudy and Shane
soon tire of each other due to their differences in age and interests.
Trudy goes off to the local single scene, and while attempting to find
her and bring her back, Shane and his wife Jennifer reconcile instead.
They are given the token of the honeybee to symbolize that while they may visit other flowers from time to time, nothing is as sweet as returning to their hive.
- Jean Reno plays Marcel, the lead therapist, founder and operator of the resort
- Peter Serafinowicz plays Sctanley (pronounced Stanley, but with a silent 'c' like the one in "scent"[4]), the English manager of the resort who oversees the couples' stay and was the original scoring champion of Guitar Hero on the island
- Tasha Smith as Jennifer, ex-wife of Shane[5]
- Jonna Walsh as Lacey Tanzini
- Ken Jeong as a therapist
- Amy Hill as a therapist
- John Michael Higgins as a therapist
- Carlos Ponce as Salvadore, the yoga instructor
- Temuera Morrison as Briggs, the native assistant to Marcel - his name is misspelt as Temeura in the opening credits
- Karen David as Spa Attendant
Soundtrack
Production
Filming locations
The primary location for filming was at the St. Regis Bora Bora Resort,
Bora Bora in
French Polynesia.
[6][citation needed] Other filming locations include Los Angeles, Universal Studios and O'Hare International Airport.
Editing
The sinister, darker scenes of the film were omitted from the final cut of the movie.
[7]
Marketing
Universal
Pictures was criticized for removing actors Faizon Love and Kali Hawk
from the international posters for the film, showing only six rather
than the eight cast members used for the U.S. promotional materials. The
studio said it regretted causing offense and has abandoned plans to use
the revised poster in other countries.
[8][9]
Universal Pictures partnered with various groups for financial
support to help market the film. Sponsors include the Tourism Board of
Tahiti where the film was made, the manufacturers of
Bud Light and
Captain Morgan's Rum,
Bloomingdale's department store, and Crunch Gyms. The video game
Guitar Hero is also prominently featured in the film.
Reception
Critical reviews
The film received mostly negative reviews. On
Metacritic,
which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 top reviews from
mainstream critics, the film received generally unfavorable reviews
earning a score of 23% based on 27 reviews.
[10] Rotten Tomatoes
gave the film an aggregate rating of 11% based on 158 reviews, with a
rating score of 3.6 out of 10. The critical consensus states that
"Despite a talented cast and some reliably pleasant interplay between
Jon Favreau and
Vince Vaughn,
Couples Retreat leaves viewers stranded in an arid, mirthless comedy."
[11]
Litigation
A former model and current salon stylist, Irina Krupnik, filed a $10 million misappropriation-of-likeness
invasion-of-privacy lawsuit, naming several
defendants including the producers of
Couples Retreat arising from a purported
masturbation scene in which actor Jon Favreau uses a photo of her.
[12] Manhattan Supreme Court Judge O. Peter Sherwood ruled against Krupnik, and she received nothing.
[13]
Box office
Despite
the negative critical reception, it was a box office success, ranking
first for its opening weekend grossing $34,286,740 and becoming Vince
Vaughn's highest box office success since 2006's
The Break-Up. The film has grossed $109.2 million domestically and $58.8 million in foreign markets for a worldwide total of $171 million.
[3]
États-Unis
