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Since 1996 |
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You, Me and Dupree Owen Wilson has advanced from a Wedding Crasher to crashing with newlyweds in the new comedy from Arrested Development directors Joe and Anthony Russo. I had high hopes for this film but like the main character, You, Me and Dupree long over stayed its 108 minutes. In fact the similarities between Randy Dupree (Wilson) and the actual movie are many. They had potential, meant well and offered plenty of personality. Yet neither seemed to be able to focus enough and put together the right pieces to get everything moving in the right direction for any length of time. Immediately after Carl (Matt Dillon) and Molly (Kate Hudson) Peterson are married Carl’s best man and long time friend Dupree moves in with them. What was supposed to be a temporary decision put enormous strain on the newlywed couple and their peaceful household. What worked in this movie is Wilson. He is lovable as much as frustrating. The kind of friend who drives you crazy but is always there for you. The movie would have done better to play off of this scenario. The most humorous scenes that drew the most laughs are the ones with Dupree as houseguest. Changing answering machine messages, encroaching on the lives of newlyweds, and simply being a pain in the butt. It’s the tension of the moments and the awkwardness that makes it comical. Plus many of us have been on there one or both sides of that setup. Problem is these moments in the film were rare and mainly covered in the previews. It’s a typical bait and switch technique. They fool you in the previews and you think the movie will be as funny as what they tease you with. When you get there you find that everything not in the trailer is a mix of shallow side stories and varying plot lines that never pan out or develop into anything worthwhile. There is the main story of the three people trying to live under the same roof. Things get muddy when you add the tension between Carl and his corporate boss/ Father n Law (Michael Douglas) who is having a hard time letting go of his little girl. Then there is the sub plot of that work relationship and Carl turning into a work a holic. Add to this the large issue of Dupree trying to get his life together and find his focus and you have way too much going on and not enough time to make any of it develop properly. So what you end up with is a rarely funny, and many times long, boring film. It did not have to be. Hudson who is a decent actress and can hold her own in the comedy realm works well with Wilson’s loveable mope. The scenes with her and Dillon work despite their 15-year real life age difference. Despite too that Dillon doesn’t work in a comedy. He always comes across as a stuck up jerk. He isn't funny and usually looks too smug to be liked. But it works when it has to here as you grow to dislike his character and his decisions, almost as much as you grow to dislike the entire movie. You, Me and Dupree is rated
PG-13 for sexual content, brief nudity, crude humor, language and a drug
reference. If it were a well-written and
The Mungle 7/12/2006 Matt is a member of the North Texas Film Critics Association (NTFCA) and hosts the weekly syndicated Indie Rock Radio Show Spin 180. Plus with his wife Cindy they do a weekly radio feature, The Mungles on Movies. For additional reviews and interview clips visit the website www.mungleshow.com
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