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Couples Retreat is the story of a group of friends that go to an exotic island resort in the hopes of a dream vacation and to help their friends considering a divorce only to find out that the resort is also a heavy duty couples counseling center – and the counseling is not optional. Each of the four couples undergo counseling and discover a whole host of issues they didn’t know they had in this Mars vs. Venus comedy.

While I enjoyed Couples Retreat like I’ve enjoyed any joint venture between Jon Favreau & Vince Vaughn, I can’t quite say the film was cohesive. The movie isn’t as funny as the trailer leads you to believe, but isn’t bad as you might assume it would be; it’s a little clichéd and predictable at times, but altogether entertaining – something that I mainly pin on the sense of humor that radiates off the screen from almost all the actors.

What I really enjoyed about Couples Retreat was as always the partnering between Favreau & Vaughn, and I found the introduction of Jason Bateman to the mix fit well. These are actors that know comedy and know how to find the quirky or comedic beat in a moment. This is the men from Swingers if they managed to grow up and have kids outside of the LA scene, and seeing that is kind of enjoyable in a very unique way.

The one large downside to me was the character Faizon Love played; I’m not talking negatively against Love himself or his performance but how he actually appeared in the movie. For most of the scenes, including some major ones Love’s character is simply not there; either he was cut out as much as possible in editing and reshoots based on studio notes, or Love for whatever reason was not on set nearly as much as everyone else and they shot around him. The problem is that this leaves the audience feeling like his character was included for ethnic variety and that his character and conflict is never actually developed past being the sad divorcee.

Couples Retreat is a good movie and a fun watch. If you’re looking for a laugh not based on gross outs or jokes involving bodily fluids I highly recommend it – this film actually derives it’s comedy form pretty real to life situations which is kind of refreshing.

Director: Peter Billingsley
Writers: Job Favreau, Vince Vaughn & Dana Fox
Dave: Vince Vaughn
Jason: Jason Bateman
Shane: Faizon Love
Joey: Jon Favreau
Ronnie: Malin Akerman
Cynthia: Kristen Bell
Lucy: Kristin Davis

Now the entire world is aware of Jon Favreau, he is the director that brought Iron Man to life, but in 2001 he made his directorial debut with Made a story about Bobby (whom he also played), a down on his luck wannabe boxer who struggles day to day with trying to provide for his girlfriend Jessica & her daughter, and helping his best friend Ricky. Bobby turns from his stripper-girlfriends body guard to her boss Max’s tough guy & he heads with Ricky to New York to start his career as a mob henchman.

This shows the mark of a directorial debut; while Made is an good movie it doesn’t quite feel like Favreau’s subsequent films. The biggest difference would probably be the tone of his later films. Beginning with Swingers (Favreau’s debut as writer) all of Favreau’s films have been upbeat, if not lighter in tone than Made.

What made Made the most memorable to me is the end of the film. I spent most of the film wondering what the point of the story was and I was not disappointed; Bobby spends his journey through the film trying to provide for his family unit – Jessica & Chloe – only to finally find out that he’s providing for a woman that doesn’t want to be provided for. However, that’s when Made becomes the film that makes it original. Made is about fatherhood; while Jessica fails at being the “wife” she recognizes that Bobby is a better parent to Chloe than she is and allows Bobby to take her daughter as his own. It was a unexpected poignant moment added into the story, that shows Favreau’s true talent as a filmmaker.

What was strange to me in Made is that I spent most of the movie wanting to slap Vince Vaughn. He spends most of the movie seemingly doing everything possible to grate on your nerves, and to do it at top volume. I can’t decide if his performance was meant that way (because he does serve a point) or if it is one of the marks of Favreau’s first try at directing.

I adore Favreau. As a director myself I cannot figure out how he manages to act and direct in his own films, especially a film like Made where he plays the title character. I am excited to be a Jon Favreau fan because I feel like I can watch every film he makes as he makes it and watch his career as it happens. I am truly excited to see where Favreau’s career goes.

Director & Writer: Jon Favreau
Bobby: Jon Favreau
Ricky: Vince Vaughn
Jessica: Famke Janssen
Chloe: Makenzie Vega
Horace: Faizon Love
Max: Peter Falk
Ruiz: Sean Combs

Ricky Slade: You got an ash tray? How about an ash tray? Can I color me that?

Alright, alright. I know it’s not really appropriate to be excited about Christmas yet, but for some reason for the first time in forever I really am stoked about the holidays. I’m making a Halloween costume and I felt like watching Elf (though I can kind of blame that one on my Iron Man obsession). Elf is a great holiday movie, and just a genuinely good comedy. I really do think it’s a modern classic.

Elf is the story of Buddy who wiggles his way into Santa’s sack when Santa visits his orphanage and Santa doesn’t know until baby Buddy crawls back out of his sack at the North Pole. Papa Elf always wanted children so Santa lets him raise buddy as his own and so he grows up believing he is an elf until one day he overhears a few of the other elves discussing how sad it is that Buddy doesn’t know he’s a bad Elf because he’s actually a human. This leads Buddy onto the journey of his life as he goes to New York to find his real father and discovers the wonders of the real world. When Buddy enters New York everyone assumes he is crazy as he so fiercely believes he is an elf, but with his persistence he infects everyone around him with a joy and innocence they had long forgotten.

While I am not a giant Will Ferrell fan, I don’t dislike him; I genuinely think that no one else could have played Buddy. Job Favreau knew what he was doing when he cast the actors in this film. Ferrell stands out in sharp contrast to everyone else because of the goofiness he is capable of exuding while still being committed to the genuine goals of the character.

Watching this movie makes me realize even more that I truly am a fan of Jon Favreau as a director. Elf is yet another example of how Favreau is incredibly capable to put together a good, worthwhile movie and make it one that is not dated, or tired after repeat viewings. He knows how to cast a movie, how to compose shots, and just how to make you care about a character.

Director: Jon Favreau
Writer: David Berenbaum
Buddy: Will Ferrell
Walter: James Caan
Papa Elf: Bob Newhart
Santa: Ed Asner
Emily: Mary Steenburgen
Jovie: Zooey Deschanel
Michael: Daniel Tay
Gimbel’s Manager: Faizon Love
Miles Finch: Peter Drinklage
Deb: Amy Sedaris

Santa: That's another thing... Buddy you should know that your father... he's on the naughty list.
Buddy: Nooooo!