Review: You, Me and Dupree

by Paige MacGregor

“I don’t know… I have a hard time imagining Audrey Hepburn getting buttered up to ‘Funky Cold Medina.’”

Directing duo Anthony and Joe Russo’s romantic comedy You, Me and Dupree starring Owen Wilson (Wedding Crashers, 2005), Kate Hudson (How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, 2003), Matt Dillon (Crash, 2004) and Michael Douglas (The Sentinel, 2006), does indeed have its comic moments, but ultimately this film fails to fulfill its genre roll. The genre of “romantic comedy” describes a very specific type of film, one in which comedy is the main focus, backed by a smattering of romantic plot that provides scenarios wrought with comedic potential. You, Me and Dupree, however, falls horribly short of this goal, functioning instead as a somewhat funny romance rather than a slightly romantic comedy.

What really pushes this film out of the dual realm of comedy and romance and into areas generally claimed exclusively by Michael Cunningham screenplays (The Hours, 2002; Evening, 2007) and the Lifetime channel is a well-intentioned and ultimately overly successful attempt to both illustrate and to address the problems that can arise within romantic relationships when one partner forms a friendship with another member of the opposite sex. While You, Me and Dupree portrays the complications and jealousy that develops in a man when his (in this case) wife becomes friends with one of his closest guy friends in an extremely accurate manner, the resulting comic scenes (Matt Dillon’s character lunging across the dining room table to strangle Owen Wilson during dinner one evening, for example) are not funny enough to justify the amount of time spent developing the relationship between Molly (Hudson) and Dupree (Wilson).

In a surprising twist, it is Michael Douglas who delivers what is perhaps the film’s funniest performance as Molly’s father, who slowly pushes Carl (Dillon) over the edge of sanity incrementally during the course of the movie. The composure with which Douglas asks Carl to hyphenate his last name and to get a vasectomy, and the psychological breakdown that his new son-in-law has as a result, provides the audience with some of the most humorous scenes in the film, both surprising and sad for a film starring the once great comedic actor Owen Wilson.

In the past, simply adding the name ‘Owen Wilson’ to an already star-studded cast like that of You, Me and Dupree (which also features up-and-coming comedic actor Seth Rogan of The 40 Year Old Virgin and more recently Knocked Up) garnered major points in the comedy department for any director. Unfortunately for the Russo brothers, Wilson’s recent performances—including this one—have been dry and repetitive, leaving the actor with nothing more than a few trademark mannerisms (including that creepy, raspy whisper that first appeared in Zoolander and has since stuck with the actor like some kind of symbiotic worm) and a nose that is in desperate need of cosmetic surgery.

The film closes with a scene of romantic reconciliation between Molly and Carl that, somehow, tugs on the heartstrings and may even bring tears to the eyes… not exactly the goal of even the most romantic of comedies. Hopefully the Russo brothers will have better luck with their next motion picture project, Triggerfish (scheduled for release later this year) since You, Me and Dupree, although somewhat entertaining, fell drastically short with regard to its obligations as a romantic comedy with a star-studded cast.