CORPORATE LINE: Several of the hottest comic talents in the film world today headline the story of a loveable, well-meaning, but arrested adolescent who drives his best friends nuts in the new comedy You, Me and Dupree. OWEN WILSON, coming off of the biggest comic sensation of the past several years with Wedding Crashers, now brings his latest character—free-spirited bachelor and permanent houseguest Randolph Dupree—straight to the film’s front door. KATE HUDSON (How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, The Skeleton Key) stars as Molly Peterson, the understanding—yet put upon—schoolteacher bride of Dupree’s oldest friend Carl (MATT DILLON, There’s Something About Mary, Crash). Joining the trio, two-time Oscar® winner MICHAEL DOUGLAS (Wall Street, The War of the Roses) plays Molly’s dad (and Carl’s boss), the doting-yet-scheming real estate tycoon Mr. Thompson, while SETH ROGEN (The 40-Year-Old Virgin) plays Carl and Dupree’s good buddy Neil.
Face it. No matter who you are, you have met, dated, loaned money to, bailed out of a jam or played host to a Dupree. Who among us doesn’t have that wayward, slacker friend who marches to the beat of his own drum? We all know a Dupree: the good-hearted confidante, that party animal who can drink us under the table while dispensing unique wisdom into our lives…and who loves nothing more than couch channel-surfing while the rest of the world trudges off to the daily grind.
In You, Me and Dupree, Carl and Molly have found the one unfortunate hitch in their perfectly constructed newly wedded world: Dupree. A slacker with the soul of a poet, Dupree just can’t seem to catch a break from “The Man.” When he takes a week off to best-man Carl and Molly’s marriage in Hawaii, Dupree gets the unceremonious heave-ho from his boss. Now jobless, car-less and evicted from the cot at his favorite watering hole, he just needs to crash with the Petersons for a couple of days; okay, maybe a month or so…
At first, Carl is psyched to have the couch guest while Molly bears the brunt of Dupree’s well-meaning antics. But, as Carl becomes buried in his grown-up job of land development and headaches, he finds it hard to juggle Dupree and his newlywed responsibilities. As time passes, his and Molly’s houseguest uses his ample spare time to become a great companion to her, underscoring Carl’s new workaholic tendencies. Even Molly’s dad begins to fall for Dupree’s carefree wisdom, frustrating Carl to no end. Soon, everyone (but Carl) begins to root for Dupree to stick around. But just as the impish buddy starts becoming a fixture in the Petersons’ home, three becomes not just a crowd…but a full-blown comic catastrophe. As the couple realizes their ideas of a white-picket fence marriage are morphing, their loveable pal serves as a daily reminder that finding your inner Dupree might just be one of life’s hidden secrets.
THE REVIEW: Owen Wilson is an acquired taste. For some he is a grating, annoying, and unfunny. For others he is hilarious and sharp. Thankfully, the latter Wilson shows up to steal the movie from the other film’s stars. Wilson is perfect in a role in a film that is otherwise far from perfect. You, Me and Dupree tries to be smart and then it falls back on pratfalls. Every laugh comes thanks to Wilson. When Wilson isn’t on-screen, You, Me and Dupree quickly grows bored with itself.
The back-story of Dillon and Hudson being newly weds couldn’t be duller. The fact that Hudson grows to like Wilson doesn’t matter. It’s meaningless. This is a comedy that tries to have it both ways and be sweet. It’s a shame that Dillon and Hudson don’t have meatier roles—because they could have done so much with these characters. Michael Douglas is completely wasted in his role as the father.
FRANKLY: Wilson shows viewers a good time throughout You, Me & Dupree. And that is the only moments where you will laugh. The rest is filler. This would have been better as a television show where more could be made of the characters. In this film, everyone is thrown together quickly with an attempt to patch it up with pratfalls and hits to the groin as band-aids.
+ Charlie Craine
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