YOU, ME AND DUPREE
Got "-ness"??
PopcornReel.com Film Review: "You, Me and Dupree"
By Omar P.L. Moore/July 14, 2006
Kate Hudson and Matt
Dillon "tolerate" Owen Wilson's Dupree in "You, Me and Dupree." (All
photos: Universal)
In the Hawaii
locale, Michael Douglas administers some playful and teasing words of wisdom to
the newly-weds.
This summer on the big screen, Owen Wilson has mastered the
art of the catchphrase. In the animated smash-hit "Cars" (the best film of
the summer so far) he voices the character Lightning McQueen, an arrogant race
car whose favorite saying is "ka-chow!" And here in the Anthony and Joe
Russo-directed "You, Me and Dupree", he appears as Dupree, in human form, with a
saying that he uses in the film's second half: "you got to find your -ness!"
"Ness", to Dupree, is your inner self, the unique things that make "you" who you
are.
"You, Me and Dupree" is a comedy that is all about finding out who you are --
much more so than it is about finding out that the marriage between Molly (Kate
Hudson) and Carl (Matt Dillon) is tested by Dupree, and even more so by Molly's
father Mr. Thompson (Michael Douglas), who insists that Carl hyphenate his name
and get a vasectomy. The film is also a modest cautionary tale about how
best friends' efforts to accommodate each other can go hellishly wrong.
When Carl decides to invite Dupree to stay at their home following their
wedding, Molly is reluctant, but relents to Carl's decision to keep his best
friend who has just lost his job and the roof over his head, from sleeping on
the streets. Instantly, Dupree who is supposed to be staying for "a couple
of days, a week at most", does his best to rearrange the atmosphere in the
newly-weds house -- including the aroma of the house -- thanks to
one-too-many-dozens of buffalo wings.
There is an undercurrent of tension between Dupree and Carl, which the film
plays on ever so delicately. Molly is caught in the middle somewhat and
Carl, an over-worked real estate developer in the employ of his father-in-law
Mr. Thompson, becomes jealous and fearful of the consequences of welcoming his
best friend right into the bedroom of their marital abode. A funny
sequence captures this to a tee.
Predictably, Dupree takes liberties with things around the house and becomes a
big distraction to Carl and Molly's marriage. Mr. Wilson's character is
lonely and simply wants what Molly and Carl are giving each other: love.
But as marriage changes relationships between best friends, best friends in this
movie change marriages too.
In this moment on location in Hawaii, Kate Hudson looks like her famous mother Goldie Hawn. Remember the movie "Overboard"? In that film Ms. Hawn modeled underwear frequently and Ms. Hudson is given the chance to do the same in "You, Me and Dupree."
Michael Douglas, who chugged along arduously in the disappointing "The Sentinel"
back in April, is sublime here as the father-in-law. His comic timing,
simple gestures and body language make his Mr. Thompson an occasional cut-up.
Mr. Douglas uses his acting ability well in comedies (see "The War of The
Roses", "The In-Laws" and "All in the Family") and with silver hair and all (he
looks even more like father Kirk here) he enjoys the chances to ham things up a
little in the limited screen time that he has. Mr. Thompson's relationship
with Molly is a rocky one, but that is not immediately obvious. Kate
Hudson, who also resembles her famous mother Goldie Hawn more and more these
days, has removed her comedic edge as Molly, as has Matt Dillon (who showed his
edge in "There's Something About Mary") to play a stressed-out straitlaced
married couple who appear to have little in common but arguments about Dupree
and Mr. Thompson, who Carl is convinced hates him. One thing that is
puzzling is that while Carl has several friends including Neil (the funny Seth
Rogen) a married man whose wife Annie (Amanda Detmer) wears the pants in their
house, Molly is isolated. Where are her friends? Of all the
characters it is Mr. Dillon's Carl who seems the most annoying of all. He
appears to be having little fun in his marriage to Molly, and Molly herself as a
school teacher of pre-junior high school kids seems to get her only fulfillment
from them.
"You, Me and Dupree" works just enough to be funny and endearing and Owen Wilson
makes it go. Michael Douglas carries things along, as does Seth Rogen in
his role as Carl's buddy. Though the film could have been funnier, there
are a number of sequences of laugh-out loud moments. The Russo brothers
who directed get it right, but the Hudson-Dillon marital partnership could have
been spicier.
One final question: will there be a sequel ala "Meet The Parents", where we can
either: a) meet Carl's parents, or b) meet Dupree's parents? Universal
Studios, the choice is yours.
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