Release Date: 5 October 2006

Synopsis :

Carl and Molly Peterson are just starting their new married life together. Randy Dupree, Carl’s oldest friend and perpetual bachelor finds himself with nowhere to live after being fired. Carl invites his pal to temporarily crash on his couch but little does he know that before long, three becomes not just a crowd but a full-blown, hilarious catastrophe.

Movie Review:

Outfitted with a home and stable careers at their reigns, initially happy newlyweds Carl (Matt Dillon) and Molly (Kate Hudson) Peterson find their marital bliss together regrettably short-lived and put to the test when Carl’s best friend, Randy Dupree (Own Wilson) temporarily moves in with them after he suffers a series of unfortunate events, including the loss of his job and home, because of his attendance to their wedding.

Caught between his best friend and wife, Carl ends up having the most difficult time as he not only has to contend with pleasing the wife and caring for his friend who is unintentionally being a pest, he also gets a hard time at the office working for his father-in-law, Mr. Thompson (Michael Douglas).

Although it had a light-hearted and entertaining setting in the first half, the movie starts to take a sharp turn and it veers towards the direction of a more serious and somewhat dark tone as we see the toll of everything weigh down on Matt Dillon’s character, and he gradually becomes a lot more nasty and mean towards everyone else. And then as the movie reaches to it’s end, it starts to go back on track of being funny and blithe again. The mistake here is that writer, Mike LeSieur and directors, Anthony Russo and Joe Russo, should have kept the mood at a constant breeze. Pity that they’ve taken this and made it into a classic case of a film trying hard to be something it’s clearly not.

This movie boasts an excellent cast, but the long story and weak plot makes this a watered-down comedy that lacks any real direction throughout the film. Granted, it does have some moments, thanks to Owen Wilson’s character mostly, it definitely doesn’t have the sort of deliverance that would pull through to the list of good quality comedies of our time. As a safe prediction of how much one will enjoy this comedy, it will probably be dependant on your level of fondness for the actors.

Kate Hudson and Matt Dillon do an excellent job playing off each other as husband and wife and Michael Douglas is expectantly suited in the role of an overprotective father similar to Robert DeNiro’s in Meet The Parents.

Among the stellar cast, the main person to watch out for is undoubtedly Owen Wilson. The actor uses his signature charm and comedic style to bring a sense of lovability to his eccentric character, Dupree as he is caught somewhere between being a man with the maturity of a sixteen year old and being a man who has reached the level of self-fulfillment way ahead of others.

Hitting the two-hour mark for this movie makes it a little too long, but if you are an Owen Wilson fan, it just might be worth it. However, if you don’t enjoy watching a movie for it’s cast, then you might just want to wait for it to come out on rental instead.

Movie Rating:

(An average comedic movie with a lack of big bangs that could have made it a lot better than it is. One better enjoyed for those who are loyal Owen Wilson fans)

Review by Jolene Tan