Kristen Bell Seeks Tropic Therapy Again In Couple’s Retreat

Posted by Kevin Gustafson (kgustafson@filmschoolrejects.com) on October 15, 2008

The title character in Forgetting Sarah Marshall feared starring in crime dramas forever. The actress who played her, Kristin Bell also experiences a mysterious case of déjà vu with her new film, Couple’s Retreat. It’s about four couples on vacation in Bora Bora going through couple’s therapy. I hated Forgetting Sarah Marshall, but the casting here makes it less likely that I’ll end up sleeping in a pile of stale popcorn by the final reel–again. It might also have kick-ass writing by Iron Man director, Jon Favreau.

The cast includes, Favreau, Vince Vaughn, Jason Bateman and Faizon Love (the store manager in Elf) as the husbands. Kristen Bell, Malin Akerman (the bitchy older sister in 27 Dresses) and Kristin Davis play the wives. Love’s wife hasn’t been cast yet. Guys don’t snore yet.  I think the cast have strong enough personalities to put the funny in dysfunctional. A vacation made in Hell. I like it.

First time director, Peter Billingsley, will conduct this operatic madness. Billingsley knows stories about couples at each other’s throats from playing Ralphie Parker in A Christmas Story . “You used up all the glue–on purpose!” Sorry, I just had to repeat the line Ralphie’s father screams at his mother when dad’s famous leg lamp breaks. For all you Iron Man fans, filming for Couples’ Retreat will take place in Bora Bora and Los Angeles before work on Iron Man 2 powers up. Have no fear about Favreau’s time being wasted hanging out on a tropical island with lots of beautiful women. He’ll be pumping out another superhero hit soon enough. So do you have the “invincible” cojones to watch this romantic comedy?


Read more articles by Kevin Gustafson

« Previous Article | Next Article »

Related Topics:

In Development, Movie News, , , , , , , , , ,

Related Reading:

Your Ad Here

Comment Policy: No hate speech allowed. If you must argue, please debate intelligently. Comments containing selected keywords or outbound links will be put into moderation to help prevent spam. Film School Rejects reserves the right to delete comments and ban anyone who doesn't follow the rules. We also reserve the right to modify any curse words in your comments and make you look like an idiot. Thank You!

  • Kristen Bell and Jason Bateman - best team up ever!
  • I'm not usually one for the "Stupid Comedy", but I thought Forgetting Sarah Marshall was pretty funny. Certainly Bell gave a convincing performance as the seemingly shallow TV Star girlfriend who realizes too late what she lost.

    I'd say the new project seems promising. If they don't completely go the "Chick Flick" route, it's got the cast to be a decent film.
  • Um, Jon Favreau wrote the script and he's back with long time friend, Vince Vaughn. Isn't that enough to lineup at the cinemas? Favreau and Vaughn are always perfect together and have hit home runs everytime they touch relationship comedy. Anybody seen Swingers or the Break-Up? The best part of this story is that only one of the four couples actually knows that the vacation is a married couples therapy retreat. I think this will play well with the cast. The ladies that have been casted are good, except Bell seems a tad young for Bateman, but that is just me. Faizon Love's other half hopefully will not end up being Mo'Nique!

    Check out my site at http://schofizzymoviereview.blogspot.com
  • Kristen Bell wasn't convincing enough to me and not enough to be part of a rivalry with Mila Kunis. As far as possible good pairings in Retreat, Favreau and Davis will likely play the couple the audience will relate to. I see them as the repressed and unadventurous types who force themselves or get forced into a tropical vacation. The other couples will probably suffer the really bizarre gags.
  • Even
    I loved Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Bell is a great actress whose following can only improve the status of this film. I must say that her pairing with Jason Bateman sounds strange, considering how much older he must be to her. However, the concept sounds interesting but yet again nothing new. I just need Elle back on Heroes
  • Jason Bateman and Kristen Bell may do some "Juno" type scenes where they play off the age differences.
blog comments powered by Disqus