YOU, ME AND DUPREE

Welcome!

Groupthink doesn't live here, critical thought does. This ad-free website is dedicated to Agnès Varda and to Luis Buñuel. Punk heart still beating.

Get cool rewards when you click on the button to pledge your support through Patreon.

Thanks a lot acorns!

Your kind generosity keeps the reviews coming!

 

Owing Owen
Owen Wilson Carries The Comedy On His Back

"You, Me and Dupree" is a situation comedy that subsists purely on vibe — namely Owen Wilson’s ever-boyish twinge of an innocence that has overstayed its welcome long into adulthood.

As the title character, Wilson plays the loyal best friend to his newly married pal Carl (played with easy humility by Matt Dillon).

Carl and his newlywed wife Molly (Kate Hudson) live under the shadow of her possessive father Mr. Thompson (Michael Douglas) who doubles as Carl’s real estate tycoon boss.

However, it is Dupree who casts the longest shadow over the couple’s lives when they give him a place to stay for a few days while he hunts for a job. He lost his former employment for being absent while he played best man at the couple’s wedding in Maui. A hilarious dinner table scene with the four main characters spikes the movie into a stratosphere of humor beyond its otherwise predictable restraints.

The chemistry between Wilson, Hudson, Dillon and Douglas is promising but screenwriter Michael Le Sieur and co-directors Anthony and Joe Russo never let scenes breathe long enough for sparks to fly. In one potentially hilarious scene Mr. Thompson suggests that Carl should consider getting a vasectomy.

Carl protests diplomatically but accepts a brochure on the topic before the scene suddenly cuts. For all of Mr. Thompson’s wily designs at knocking Carl off balance, we’re barely let in on the joke that he’s merely testing his son-in-law to see what the guy is made of.

The unseen mettle of men is at the theme of the movie. Carl is an average guy who has married up. He works a "cubical" job for his fiancée’s dad until the marriage prompts papa to promote Carl to a dream job overseeing a new land development Carl proposes.

At Carl's and Molly’s wedding party Dupree gives Carl a morale-boosting speech about his unique sparkle, which he refers to as his "Carlness."  We witness Carl’s personal challenges paint Matt Dillon’s character into a corner.

He has the potential for greatness with his adorable elementary school teacher wife by his side, but Carl lacks the finesse that Dupree carries in spades in spite of his authority-defying slacker attitude.

The movie stays in a holding pattern of waiting for Carl and Dupree to reveal their inner natures. The irony here is that for as much as Dupree seems reliant on Carl — he understands Carl much better than Molly does — Carl needs Dupree to show him how to prioritize his life.

Even so, Carl is waiting for his own light to go on. This blind leading the blind gets a kick-start when Dupree nearly burns Carl and Molly’s house down while getting last-tango-in-Paris freaky to the strains of "Funky Comadena" with the librarian from Molly’s school. Molly is kind enough to give Dupree a second chance at staying in the house. He rises to the occasion by cleaning up the house, doing a letter-writing favor for Carl, and cooking up a mean dinner for his hosts. The effort backfires when Carl misreads the gesture as a way of stealing Molly’s affections away.

A fever-pitch chase scene between Dupree and the security officer at Carl’s work place answers the audience’s desire for a narrative crescendo. But it’s a stopgap device that masks the film’s lack of comedic richness.

Kate Hudson’s comic skills are squandered. We’re left with Owen Wilson’s contagious sense of decadence to make us feel good about a comedy with very little momentum. You could say that "You, Me and Dupree" is a movie saved by that certain Wilsonian touch. It’s closer to what Dupree would call "Owenness."

Rated PG-13. 100 mins.