The Good

This movie does have a lot of funny people in it.

The Bad

There just reaches a point where the content on hand isn't funny. Somebody stop them.Couples Retreat sees eight friends get together for a trip to paradise that is both a blessing and a curse. Vince Vaughn, Jason Batemen, Jon Favreau, Faizon Love, Kristin Davis, Malin Akerman, Kristen Bell and others star in this movie that sees four couples get together on a tropical resort for a group rate. Things get very interesting when the couples have to engage in therapy activities. While at this tropical island we go through the couple's marital issues, the things that guys and girls do when they are alone, and a litany of sight gags that are supposed to pass for comedy. While I am sure that there are people who might swear by this film, I am not going to be one of them.

In fact this film, made for $60 million, grossed over $230 million when it's worldwide gross and the DVD sales are factored in. Wow...

Features

Pocket Blu

While I didn't use this (mainly because for this film it seemed like a waste of time), I thought it was interesting enough to tell you about it. And, since in my Blu-ray reviews I only talk about the Blu-ray specific content, it seemed appropriate. They have created a special application for this film that one can use with their iPod touch or their iPhone. One can add exclusive bonus features from this film to their mobile device that they can enjoy anywhere. Apparently, said device can also function as a virtual remote or a keyboard. Lastly, one can use the application to talk about Couples Retreat l networking sites. My biggest question... why would an application like this be created for Couples Retreat? And not a movie (say Avatar) that seems to warrant it?

BD Live

U-Control

This picture in picture audio commentary features Vince Vaughn and director Peter Billingsley. While I can't say that it offers anything too amazing about this movie, or any real insights, Vince Vaughn is usually enjoyable and he doesn't disappoint too much here. Billingsley for me is a wild card because I have always wondered how he feels about his early career and the things he has done before this film. That said, I can't really say too much about this because it is sort of dry. Watch it if you want but I certainly wouldn't consider it mandatory viewing.

Deleted Scenes

Video

1080p High Definition Widescreen - 1.85:1. The special features are in 1080i/p High Definition. This film takes place on an island and as such there are lot of blues, greens and other similar colors. Director of Photography Eric Edwards and director Peter Billingsley haven't done anything here that is that amazing cinematically, but that doesn't really seem like it was the intent with Couples Retreat anyway. What we get is a film that looks really solid on Blu-ray. It features lush island vistas. Rich shots of all our main characters, and it holds long enough on the site gags to keep people entertained. I just didn't happen to be one of them.

Audio

English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, DVS - 2.0 French and Spanish DTS 5.1. Subtitled in English French and Spanish. The audio for the Special Features is in English Dolby Digital 2.0. The audio, like the look of this film, isn't doing anything amazing. There is loud music that is used to underscore specific scenes, there are sounds that are meant to flesh out the site gags, but that is about as deep and as layered as the audio goes. I was able to set things at a certain level and after that I didn't need to make any more adjustments.

Package

The cast of this film is presented waist deep in the water on this front cover. All the characters seem like this is the worst vacation ever. On the back of this Blu-ray disc are four images from this film, a very succinct description of what this movie is about (not that it needs more), a big bonus features listing, a cast list and technical specs for your Blu-ray machine.

Final Word

I tried to go into Couples Retreat with a sense of optimism. My feeling was that no film could be as bad as this one looked. No film could be as bad as other people told me it was.

I was wrong.