Shane (Faizon Love) has recently divorced from Jennifer (Tasha Smith) and taken up with 20-year-old Trudy (Kali Hawk). But Jason (Jason Bateman) and wife Cynthia (Kristen Bell) are crumbling under the pressure of trying to conceive and in a bid to save their marriage, come up with the idea for all of them to spend a luxurious week together at the Eden Tropical Island Resort.
They manage to sell it to their friends on the fun they can all have while working on their relationships. But the main reason they need everyone to go? The group discount!
When they arrive on the island, we’re introduced to a Couples Whisperer (Jean Reno), whose goal is to whip his students into submission and help repair their broken relationships, although (predictably) everything doesn’t go as smoothly as everyone would like.
There are some funny side characters such as Jason and Cynthia’s therapist (Ken Jeong, from The Hangover and the scene-stealing, hunky Salvador yoga instructor (Carlos Ponce), whose lack of clothing and inappropriate yoga moves lead to some great comedy set pieces.
The film is written by its two main stars Vaughn and Favreau, and to be honest I would have expected more comedy gold moments from these two than we actually get. That said, the humorous talent on show here is worth the ticket price alone, as Bateman (fast becoming a favourite) is again in fine form, bouncing off his co-stars with a serious edge that’s hard not to laugh at.
The main attraction of this movie is the location, filmed on the spectacular island of Bora Bora. The resort is jaw dropping and I defy anyone not to want to rush out and book a ticket the moment they leave the cinema.
