The formula itself might have supported hilarity, but the story lacks character specifics. Each couple behaves relentlessly as an illustration of their problem. The movie depends for excitement on a shark attack during a scuba-diving exercise, featuring clueless sharks, inflamed by the smell of blood, who circle aimlessly going "boo!
The men don't bond as much as stand together onscreen and exchange bonding dialogue. There is a twin resort named East Eden, which has all swinging singles, as opposed to troubled couples. It's a party scene every night; as nearly as I could tell, our four couples are the only clients on West Eden, so no wonder there was a 50 percent off deal, despite Cstanley's talk of the long waiting list. Among the better things in "Couples Retreat," I count Vaughn's well-timed and smart dialogue; the eccentricity of Love and Hawk in contrast to the cookie-cutter couples, and Serafinowicz's meticulous affectations, which suggest psychotropic medication.
The concluding scenes are agonizing in the way they march through the stages dictated by an ages-old formula. We know all four couples must arrive at a crisis. We know their situations must appear dire. We expect a transitional event during which they realize the true nature of their feelings.
This is a wild party night at East Eden. We expect sincere confessions of deep feelings. And we know there must be a jolly conclusion that wraps everything up. In the context of the film, the jolly conclusion must be seen to be believed.
Were all the transitional events anticipated, even planned, by the the all-seeing Monsieur Marcel? Marcel hands each couple an animal representing their true inner animal spirits. It is easy to hide our true selves away from each other and put up a wall made with our tears and pain. Then dysfunction becomes our operational existence. The retreat is a series of therapy sessions, yoga, adventures, mishaps and desperation in their plight for understanding and restoration within their relationships.
I have thought long and hard about this. And, finally… The ass. You are the ass. Stubborn and immovable. The mighty ass tirelessly bears the heavy burden of others. But when the ass is on the move, nothing can stop the ass. Be an ass for your marriage. Be an ass for your children. Be an ass for love. It is said that in the East the ass is especially remarkable for its patience, gentleness, intelligence, meek submission, and great power of endurance.
This is my prayer for marriages and relationships alike. Belinda's creative writing pieces were first published in a grade two collective book. Since then she has always enjoyed expressing herself through writing and also performing in local theatre company productions and church drama teams.
Belinda sees God and His themes in movies and everyone in every day life and loves the vision of cinemafaith. She also writes articles about God's inclusive love and the church for periecho.
Her current home is on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia. Mission Join us as we see where God is present in our lives. They are supposed to portray the average, old fashioned, married couple: Dave is a working class man, a videogame salesman, while Ronnie is a stay at home mom caring for their two kids.
Obviously they end up going on the trip, otherwise there would be no movie, but upon arriving at the island they are shocked, and quite pissed, to see that therapy sessions are not optional, which was the reason why they decided to go on the retreat. They begrudgingly attend these sessions, still convinced that no major issues exist in their marriage.
However, to their surprise the therapist uncovers some real issues that prevent Dave and Ronnie from truly loving each other, issues that they are forced to talk about and deal with throughout the movie. In the end, Dave admits to his wife that they have a million problems, but that is life! What is important is that they never forget the commitment that they made to themselves and to their families. This is an incredibly beautiful moment where love is portrayed not as sex, pleasure, or fun, but as commitment!
This retreat was a sort of examination of conscience for Dave and Ronnie. They took a period of time, though unexpected, to examine what is good and bad in their relationship and to renew their commitment to each other. Should we not do the same in our own relationship with God? Through a simple examination of conscience each day we may discover things that, like Dave and Ronnie, may be stopping our relationship with God from truly growing.
This examination of conscience is very simple: just take a few minutes before bed and think about some positives and negatives that happened throughout the day. At the end of the reflection make the same promise to God that Dave made to Ronnie: acknowledge that there will always be problems in the relationship, but promise to work hard and renew the commitment that you made to God in your baptism.
PS…if you liked this movie, keep checking in…analysis of the other 3 couples in the movie will be coming soon! Labels: Movies. Couples September 24, at PM.
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