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"You, Me and Dupree"

Directed by Anthony & Joe Russo.
Written by Mike LeSieur.
Starring Owen Wilson, Kate Hudson, Matt Dillon and Michael Douglas.
Release Year:  2006
Review Date:  7/26/06

Folks--

I left it up to my friend Rina, who showed up at the Tysons AMC Theaters and had to pick from the movies I hadn't seen...and, she went with "You, Me and Dupree", which ended up being a fair, if bland, choice given the pool of contestants.

The problem with the film is the same problem almost all films fronted by your friend and mine, Owen Wilson--the film never aspires to be great, it never pushes the laughs to the limit, it never gives you an ounce of originality, but the guy's laid-back persona makes "You, Me and Dupree" watchable, if ultimately forgettable.  This time, the slacker that Wilson plays is named Dupree, best friend and best man to Carl (Matt Dillon) at his wedding in Hawaii as the film opens.  Carl, who marries a lovely teacher named Molly (Kate Hudson), has married into a family where his new father-in-law (Michael Douglas) is actually his current boss at a real estate firm...and, the kind of boss that is going to be really hard to work for really soon!  Back home from the honeymoon, Carl and Molly are excited to live their life together...until their old buddy Dupree loses his job, his apartment, and all of his pride in about a week, and Carl suggests to Dupree that he move into the newlyweds' single family home.

Unfortunately, Dupree is the housemate from hell, and the rest of the film explores the consequences for putting up your best friend, even IF he's a total fucking slob.

Wilson appears to do this kind of work in his sleep; he's occasionally funny, he always looks like a ham, he doesn't do drama well and his playful nature either works for you or it annoys the living shit out of you.  In "You, Me and Dupree", it goes in all directions, but generally, he captures the essence of the "fuck 'em all" attitude that has made him a big star.  By the time he's explaining the brush-back pitch to an Asian kid that's in the high school orchestra, the film either SHOULD work for you or not...but, strangely, in the case of Rina and I, we were in awkward agreement that the film somehow sits squarely on the fence because of the predictable marriage drama that unfolds matched with a few solid belly laughs sprinkled just so, to keep the comedy moving.  Hudson, Dillon and Wilson make for a great three-way team, even if their material is a bit stale; their chemistry makes this shit bearable.

When the material is bad, though, it sucks; there are a few stretches where no one laughed at anything for a few minutes at a time; Douglas, usually so good in everything, doesn't bring it home this go-round.  Save for the song over the film's epilogue, the soundtrack was blah; the look of the film is very blah as well, standard for comedy but every little bit helps when you are trying to keep guys like me awake.  The kids weren't bad, though.

Eh, "You, Me and Dupree" is alright, nothing special, it didn't suck, Rina and I did do some good laughing throughout the film, but Wilson shoots for such a low bar that I guess this should be par for the course.  I wish he just tried harder!  "Go out...and...get yourself...a good job!"

Rating:  Matinee

 

Comments?  Drop me a line at justin@bellviewmovies.com.

 

Bellview Rating System:

"Opening Weekend":  This is the highest rating a movie can receive.  Reserved for movies that exhibit the highest level of acting, plot, character development, setting...or Salma Hayek.  Not necessarily in that order. 

"$X.XX Show":  This price changes each year due to the inflation of movie prices; currently, it is the $9.50 Show.  While not technically perfect, this is a movie that will still entertain you at a very high level.  "Undercover Brother" falls into this category; it's no "Casablanca", but you'll have a great time watching.  The $9.50 Show won't win any Oscars, but you'll be quoting lines from the thing for ages (see "Office Space"). 

"Matinee":  An average movie that merits no more than a $6.50 viewing at your local theater.  Seeing it for less than $9.50 will make you feel a lot better about yourself.  A movie like "Blue Crush" fits this category; you leave the theater saying "That wasn't too bad...man, did you see that Lakers game last night?" 

"Rental":  This rating indicates a movie that you see in the previews and say to your friend, "I'll be sure to miss that one."  Mostly forgettable, you couldn't lose too much by going to Hollywood Video and paying $3 to watch it with your sig other, but you would only do that if the video store was out of copies of "Ronin."  If you can, see this movie for free.  This is what your TV Guide would give "one and a half stars." 

"Hard Vice":  This rating is the bottom of the barrel.  A movie that only six other human beings have witnessed, this is the worst movie I have ever seen.  A Shannon Tweed "thriller," it is so bad as to be funny during almost every one of its 84 minutes, and includes the worst ending ever put into a movie.  Marginally worse than "Cabin Boy", "The Avengers" or "Leonard, Part 6", this rating means that you should avoid this movie at all costs, or no costs, EVEN IF YOU CAN SEE IT FOR FREE!  (Warning:  strong profanity will be used in all reviews of "Hard Vice"-rated movies.)