![Couples Retreat [Blu-ray]](http://cdn.hometheaterforum.com/4/44/50x50px-ZC-4438b8eb_B002ZGW92Y-51QWlOdVr4L.jpg)
COUPLES RETREAT
Studio: Universal
Year: 2009
Length: 1 hr 54 mins
Genre: Comedy
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
BD Resolution: 1080p
BD Video Codec: AVC (@ an average 30 mbps)
Color/B&W: Color
Audio:
English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (@ an average 4.0 mbps)
French DTS 5.1
Spanish DTS 5.1
English DVS 2.0 (Descriptive Visual Service)
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Film Rating: PG-13 (Sexual Content and Language)
Release Date: February 9, 2010
Starring: Vince Vaughn, Jason Bateman, Jon Favreau, Faizon Love, Kristin Davis, Malin Ackerman, Kristen Bell and Jean Reno
Written by: Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn & Dana Fox
Directed by: Peter Billingsley
Film Rating: 2/5
Couples Retreat is the latest comedy to come from the team of Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau. This one, like their first collaboration, Swingers, reflects a bit of the reality of where they are in their lives. While the earlier film dealt with young single guys in Hollywood, the new movie centers on married couples trying to find the spark in their relationships. It’s telling that Favreau’s character is given a teenage daughter who is old enough to drive. (Just goes to show you how much time has passed since Swingers…) The plot of the film has Jason Bateman’s character getting his buddies (including Vaughn, Favreau and Faizon Love) to go on a resort vacation together to get a discount package. Once the men and their wives (or girlfriend, in one case) get to the resort, they find out they are all required to attend mandatory couples’ therapy sessions and activities. And, as the saying goes, hijinks ensue. To be fair, there are some funny bits scattered through the movie – usually to be found in the improvised therapy sessions, as well as in outrageous couples yoga session. Jean Reno has a great time playing the head of the resort, and Temuera Morrison turns in a fun cameo. The movie looks and sounds great – including some beautiful location footage in Bora Bora, contrasted with a different look for the Chicago winter home scenes that start the film. But in the end, the movie doesn’t really have that much to say or do, and at nearly 2 hours, things drag on past the point at several times in the film. Fans of Favreau and Vaughn will probably want to pick this up as part of their collection, as will fans of A Christmas Story, since Peter Billingsley is the director here. More casual fans are encouraged to rent this first, although I have to admit the extras found on the Blu-ray add up to a better package than I initially thought.
Couples Retreat has just been released on Blu-ray and standard definition DVD, with many shared features, but the Blu-ray has the advantage not only of the high definition picture and sound but also a PIP commentary track, high definition special features and two additional deleted scenes.
VIDEO QUALITY 4/5
Couples Retreat is presented in a 1080p AVC 1.85:1 transfer gets a wide palette here, from the wintry Chicago scenes that start the film to a series of stunning views of Bora Bora that introduce the location. Flesh tones look accurate, with a good range usually being displayed just between the various couples. (One beach scene where everyone has to strip down to a bathing suit – or less, as seen in the trailer – is a great example of this.) I should note that I am watching the film on a 40” Sony XBR2 HDTV. If anyone is watching the film on a larger monitor and is having issues, please post them on this thread.
AUDIO QUALITY 4/5
Couples Retreat is presented in an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix in English, along with standard DTS 5.1 mixes in French and Spanish and a DVS track in English. Considering this is a comedy, this is a full-throated mix, with the various songs and music from A.R. Rahman (fresh from Slumdog Millionaire) filling the surround channels and making good use of the subwoofer. There’s a lot of atmosphere in the sound mix, which is appropriate since the idea is to place the viewer in the middle of Bora Bora.
SPECIAL FEATURES 3/5
The Blu-Ray presentation of Couples Retreat comes with the usual BD-Live connectivity and My Scenes functionality, as well as the new pocket BLU functionality, in addition to a PIP commentary, high definition versions of extended and deleted scenes, a gag reel, and two brief featurettes.
U-Control PIP Video Commentary with Peter Billingsley and Vince Vaughn – This scene-specific PIP commentary finds a bearded Peter Billingsley sitting with Vaughn to watch the movie together. It’s clear the guys had fun making the movie, and they discuss a lot of the production issues and story ideas that came into play. I can’t help but note that Vaughn looks considerably heavier during this commentary than he was when filming the movie – either that, or he was BADLY LIT by the PIP crew.
Alternate Ending (2:56, 1080p) – An alternate ending to the movie is included here, which would have brought the story back to the winter setting, and which was understandably jettisoned. There is an option to watch this ending with commentary by Billingsley and Vaughn.
Gag Reel (3:22, 1080p) – A quick gag reel is thrown in, mostly showing the cast breaking up or reacting to aircraft noises. The best bit here is watching Malin Ackerman desperately trying to regain her composure after laughing in the middle of a scene – anyone who has been in the middle of a situation like this knows that it’s all downhill once the performer starts repeating “I’ll be okay, I can do this…”
Deleted Scenes – (10:01 Total, 1080p) A total of 9 deleted scenes are included here, including two that are not found on the standard definition DVD edition.
Extended Scenes – (4:22 Total, 1080p) Three scenes are presented here in a longer form than originally seen in the film.
Therapy’s Greatest Hits (5:31, 1080p) – Here we have what I think is the funniest material on the Blu-ray, and it’s actually better than what we actually get in the movie. This is a collection of additional material from the improvised therapy sessions, showing off really good ad-libs by the therapists, particularly Ken Jeong and Charlotte Cornwell, who both go off on wild rants that are worth the rental by themselves. At the same time, the footage also shows Vaughn and Ackerman losing their composure during one session, and shows Jason Bateman studiously avoiding eye contact with Ken Jeong in the middle of the aforementioned rant.
Paradise Found: Filming in Bora Bora – (6:18, 1080p) This quick featurette shows some on-set footage of the company working in Bora Bora, along with interviews with the creative staff and what looks like a pretty happy cast. (I stress “looks”, as EPK featurettes usually won’t show you the other side of that situation....
Behind the Yoga – (4:26, 1080p) The wild yoga scene is examined in detail here, including footage of the yoga rehearsal attended by the cast before they left for Bora Bora.
BD-Live - The more general BD-Live screen is accessible via the menu, which makes various online materials available, including tickers, trailers and special events.
My Scenes - The usual bookmarking feature is included here.
Pocket BLU – The iPhone and iPod Touch application functionality is included here, for those viewers that have the requisite devices.
The usual promotional ticker is present on the main menu, but can be toggled off at your discretion. The film and the special features are subtitled in English, Spanish and French.
When you first put the Blu-ray into the player, the disc loads random trailers from BD-Live. So you may get a trailer for the now-airing Olympics on NBC. Or you may get the general Universal Blu-ray trailer. Or you may get trailers for individual movies. The level of definition varies. In some cases, they are 720p high definition, and in others, they are 480p standard definition.
IN THE END...
Couples Retreat is not the most memorable comedy you’ll ever see, but it has some fun bits in it, and the Blu-ray comes with an interesting PIP commentary and a funny collection of additional footage. Fans of Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn will likely want to add this to their collection of the guys’ movies, and even fans of Peter Billingsley may want to grab this. More casual fans are advised to rent it first.
Kevin Koster
February 18, 2010.
