Usually the addition of Vince Vaughn (Four Christmases) is enough to sell me on a movie. Films like Swingers and Wedding Crashers cemented him as a comedic genius in my eyes. Lately, however, his choices of roles have been less than stellar. The trailer for Couples Retreat showed some promise and made me believe that Vaughn could be back on the right track. Unfortunately, though this film is not horrible, it is not the redeeming piece I had hoped for.

Couples Retreat focuses on four couples with a long history together. They have a very strong friendship built up over the years and would do anything for each other. When one of the couples begins contemplating divorce, they look into counseling at the island resort, Eden. Unable to afford the single rate, these two convince the rest of the crew to join them for the reduced group rate with the promise that counseling is optional. This could be the best vacation a married couple could ask for.

Or not. Upon arrival everyone soon realizes that the "couples stuff" is not optional and it will take up a fair amount of their vacation time. Now those who thought their marriage was perfect are starting to notice the cracks beneath the surface. As they are placed under the microscope, they don't like what they are shown .Getting to the fun stuff may not be so fun if these couples can't survive each other.

I didn't mention any character names in the summary this time because there are just too many stars in this film to annotate. You would think that this is a good thing, but in the case of Couples Retreat, it doesn't really help. The film was written by John Favreau (I Love You, Man) and Vince Vaughn, and it really shows. Their characters are highlighted quite a bit more than the others, and Vaughn gets his fair share of the dialog. The other characters are almost ancillary, only being fleshed out towards the climax and even then they aren't fully developed. The star power may keep your focus on the screen (I'm talking about you, Kristen Bell), but it doesn't do much for the story presented.

The other big problem I had with this movie was the run time. Couples Retreat is close to 2 hours long and without any reason. There were plenty of scenes, as well as a great deal of useless dialog (some of it involving an overuse of the restaurant "Applebee’s") that could have been cut in order to bring this film below a reasonable 90 minutes. I'm not one to complain about the length of a film if it keeps me interested, but I found myself wishing for the finale quite a few times with this one. With the help of a little editing, I may have enjoyed this movie a lot more than I did.

Couples Retreat does manage to succeed in one area. It is actually funny. Vaughn delivers his lines in regular fashion, and Favreau comes off as Vaughn's sidekick, which is when he is at his funniest. I was a little disappointed with Jason Bateman (Extract) who is usually hilarious, but doesn't really shine in this role. The others don't really provide that much comedy, and that is fine considering who they are up against. Luckily, there are actually some funny moments that weren't shown in the trailers as well which is key for a comedy to gain support from the audience. The progression may not make an impression, but you will definitely laugh when they want you to.

Couples Retreat could use some work. It is far too long, underdeveloped, and the actors don't really get a chance to show their stuff. As a comedy it succeeds at making you laugh, but as a movie it fails at making you care. If you can deal with an almost 2 hour film that doesn't have robots in disguise, then see this film for an easy laugh. If you are looking for a bit more in your theater experience, however, feel free to skip Couples Retreat.