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You, Me and Dupree
R2 - United Kingdom - Fabulous Films Review written by and copyright: Matthew Crossman (20th February 2016). |
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The Film
 The film opens as Molly Thompson (Kate Hudson) and Carl Peterson (Matt Dillon) are in the last stages of preparing for their wedding in Hawaii. Carl gets an urgent message to say that his best friend, and best man, Dupree (Owen Wilson), has arrived on the wrong island. Carl goes to collect Dupree along with another friend Neil (Seth Rogan). Once collected the wedding goes to plan. Carl is marrying Molly who’s Father just happens to be Carl’s boss. Mr Thompson (Michael Douglas) gives a wedding rehearsal speech which disparages Carl at every turn. The wedding goes off without a hitch and upon their return Carl finds out that Mr Thompson has given him a promotion and has put him in charge of a large house building project for the company he owns based on a proposal that Carl had drawn up before the wedding. After work Carl goes to a local bar and meets up with his friends Neil and Dupree. It’s here that Carl discovers that whilst away Dupree has been fired from his job because he did not have authorisation to take a week off to go to Carl’s wedding and due to this Dupree has no money and has lost his apartment and his car. Taking pity Carl invites Dupree to come and stay at his and Molly’s new house for a few days until Dupree can get a job and get back on his feet again. Dupree, being the free spirit that he is, the proceeds to cause havoc in Carl and Molly’s home culminating in burning down part of their house whilst indulging in sexual antics with a librarian that Molly had set Dupree up with in the hope that Dupree would start to settle down. For Molly and Carl this was the final straw and kick Dupree out of their house. Dupree is not dissuaded from this latest set back and goes to stay with the librarian, Mandy. At work Carl is finding that the project he has been put in charge of is spiralling out of his control. Mr Thompson has no desire to make a small, attractive estate of houses and instead wants as many homes crammed into a small space as possible going completely against Carl’s original plan. Whilst driving home with Molly, Carl and Molly discover Dupree sitting on a bench in the pouring rain. It seems that Dupree’s plan to live with Mandy has not worked out. This time it’s Molly who takes pity on Dupree and insists he comes home with them. Once their Carl lays down the law in regards to how to behave in his home and Dupree agrees and starts to make amends for his earlier behaviour by repairing the fire damage he caused and helping out around the house. As Carl gets busier and busier at work Dupree starts to step in for Carl around the house. Molly starts to see a different, better side to Dupree and they start to get closer. Carl suspected that he is being cuckolded by Dupree and throws him out of the house. Dupree then returns to Carl and Molly’s house whilst they are having a dinner party with Mr Thompson. Dupree returns to pick up his things but falls off the roof and is taken inside by Molly. Molly gives Dupree something to eat and Mr Thompson and Dupree start to bond. Carl cannot take this anymore and attacks Dupree and then faces off to Mr Thompson who strikes him with a candlestick holder. Carl leaves and just with everything about Carl’s life in tatters it’s down to Dupree to try and save his marriage and his best friend’s life. ‘You, Me and Dupree’ is a rather strange comedy hybrid. The film starts off as a ‘house guest that won’t leave’ type of film, sidelines into a romantic comedy and finally finishes up as a ‘bro-mantic comedy’. It is a typical three act film with most of the real comedy coming in the first act. Here there are two or three genuine laugh out loud moments and Owen Wilson as Dupree is at his most loveable and disarming despite being a major pain in the ass. The second act is where things go dark and structurally this is the act with the most problems. The second act relies on the characters behaving in a way that is not very realistic. When Carl’s Father in Law, Mr Thompson, suggests that Carl gets a vasectomy Carl barely mentions this to Molly. Instead he makes a vague reference to the conversation and then has a hypothetical conversation about the subject with Dupree instead. This is symptomatic about Carl’s character in the whole of the second act and so whilst Carl is being put upon he could have avoided the entire later scenario with Molly by just being honest and straight. It is during this act that we witness Dupree going from a likeable loser, but a loser none the less, to a character who can give motivational speeches, write poetry, make gourmet dinners and a character that reads MENSA magazines in his spare time. Molly goes from being a loving, dutiful Wife into a pouting shrew that instead of discussing Carl’s apparent changes in mood just issues demands and hangs out, to the obvious discomfort of Carl, with his best friend Dupree. Of course, with the arrival of the third act Dupree steps up to the plate and acts like a real ‘best man’, Carl admits that he was wrong in the way he behaved (despite severe provocation from all those around him), and Molly’s frown is turned upside down and everything is peachy again. Whilst these points are fair the viewer has to remember that this is a comedy after all and such things can be forgiven but the truth of the matter is real comedy is based on real life and people acting and reacting as they should and not how the scriptwriter wants them to because it moves the plot along from point A to point B. There is also a large sub plot involving Dupree and the supposed love of his life, librarian Mandy, which is quickly cast aside and of which we hear no more. A conversation between Molly and Dupree at the school where Molly works regarding Mandy is funny at the time but once reflected upon at the closure of the film seems rather awkward and definitely unfunny. The film also uses Lance Armstrong, the disgraced cyclist, as a hero worship figure many times during the movie and which now obviously dates the film plus makes it feel a tad sleazy. The plus side to all this is a film where an excellent cast give very good performances, ably directed by Brothers Anthony and Joe Russo with a decent musical soundtrack. But of course the script is where a film lives or dies and the script, which quite clearly had problems (aforementioned plot strands being ignobly dropped), dies fairly rapidly after a bright, opening start. The less discerning viewer will be able to tune out these problems and enjoy a very good cast in a passable comedy.
Video
The film is presented in a ratio of 1.78:1 (anamorphic). I have no complaints at all about the picture quality. The colours are nice and bright, the blacks are reasonably deep, and there are no blemishes are artefacts to be seen. If anything the picture shows up just how old Owen Wilson is looking these days (or at least was in 2006 when the movie was made) as the lines on his face, and especially around his eyes, are suitably pronounced in this presentation. It also does a good job of showing off Kate Hudson’s bottom so a thumbs up from me.
Audio
There is only one choice when it comes to the soundtrack and that is the English 5.1 Dolby Digital mix. Again, as with the picture, I have no qualms with it at all. The dialogue through the centre speaker is nice and clear whilst the front and left speakers separate the pop soundtrack quite nicely from the rest of the mix. The rears are used sparingly but when they are it’s to good effect with the sounds of insects buzzing around in the early Hawaiian scenes, to dogs barking in some of the later scenes. The sub woofer is bursts into life when the pop soundtrack enters the fray and adds a nice, beefy bass to proceedings. Subtitles are available in English (HoH), Arabic and Icelandic.
Extras
Sadly, none.
Overall
A decent enough romantic (bromantic?) comedy that has its funny moments but is at times let down by its skewed sense of realism. A very good ensemble cast do their best with an undercooked script, but those in the mood for a feel good (eventually) comedy could do a lot worse.
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