Dir. Anthony & Joe Russo, US, 2006, 110 mins
Cast: Kate Hudson, Matt Dillon, Owen Wilson
Review by Carol Allen
This attempt to blend the romantic and buddy comedy genres fails to take off. The trio of the title are newly weds Molly (Hudson) and Carl (Dillon) and Carl’s slacker best friend, Dupree (Wilson). We first meet them at the happy couple’s lavish wedding in Hawaii, where Dupree is best man and Molly’s controlling and overprotective father (Michael Douglas) makes clear to his new son-in-law, who gets a job in daddy’s company along with his bride, that the arrangement has strings. No sooner are the happy couple back from honeymoon, than Dupree turns up again, having lost his home, his job and his car, wanting to crash on the couch for a few days, which of course turns into months. In the course of which he trashes the joint, at one point burning it down, but manages to impress Molly with his slacker charm and some lessons on how life is really to be lived, while poor old Carl is slaving away to bring home the bacon.
The talented cast do their best with a limp script, which is charmless, dull, pointless and almost totally lacking in laughs. They all deserve better. Hudson has little to do but alternately complain or look decorative, while Dillon copes as best he can with the unrewarding role of straight man to Wilson’s would be endearing charmer, who sadly fails to endear himself to anybody. Even that seasoned trouper Michael Douglas fails to breathe much life into his role. I was also puzzled as to why the couple’s spacious and luxurious new house has only one bedroom, necessitating the house guest from hell having to sleep on the living room couch. Bad house design as well as a rotten script.
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