Movie Natters: July 13, 2006 Archive

"You, Me and Dupree" (but maybe not me)

Posted at 10:41 AM on July 13, 2006 by Euan Kerr (2 Comments)

My beloved leaned towards me before the start of the new Owen Wilson, Matt Dillon, Kate Hudson vehicle "You, Me and Dupree" and said, "Let me guess..."

She hadn't seen anything more than the picture on the advance screening ticket, but she rattled off what she predicted we'd see in the next 90 minutes.

And darn it, if she wasn't completely right.

Of course, romantic comedy plot projections aren't that hard. The reason to go is to see the stars pull off virtuoso performances which delight and entertain us.

Unfortunately in Dupree's case, we have seen it all before.

Here's the story in a nutshell: Carl (Dillon) and Molly (Hudson) get married, even though their whacky best man Dupree (Wilson) flies to the wrong tropical island and almost misses the wedding. On returning from the honeymoon Carl find Dupree has messed some other stuff up too, and has lost his job, apartment, and car. He invites Dupree to stay for a few days, and problems ensue.

As Carl puts it at one point, Dupree "has never been truly domesticated."

Things are made worse by the fact that Carl's boss Mr Thompson, (Michael Douglas) is also Molly's dad. He's intent on running his new son-in-law through a "greed-is-good" trial-by-fire.

There are more complications, confrontations, a housefire, a bare butt, and a bunch of other stuff. Some of it is mildly amusing, some of it makes you cringe.

The characters are pretty much stock. Dillon plays the stressed, flawed with a heart of gold, hunk, who has problems with communication both with his wife and his boss. Hudson prances in and out, smiling or scowling as appropriate, but never really engaging, and Wilson plays Owen Wilson.

There is one thing that is truly strange however. While there are a few female characters in this film, other than Molly, they are all bit parts. Dupree falls in love, and the object of his desires even appears on screen, but we never see her face. Did someone end up on the cutting room floor?

There's a telling moment when Dupree talks about how he's realizing that he's always trying to play the lovable screw-up (only he doesn't say "screw-up.") Dillon looks at him and says, "Not so lovable."

Ain't that the truth?

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