19.7.06

You, Me and Dupree

You, Me and Dupree is the story of newlyweds Carl (Matt Dillon) and Molly (Kate Hudson) who find themselves burdened with an inconsiderate roommate in the form of Carl's best friend Dupree (Owen Wilson).

Dupree disrupts their ordered life, destroys everything he touches and basically behaves like a single guy without a care in the world. Dupree is the kind of guy everyone knows. If you're a guy and you don't know a Dupree, you're the Dupree. He never grew up, never settled, never stopped partying. Dupree's the kind of guy your wife would rather you didn't hang out with, didn't invite to the wedding, wouldn't invite to birthday parties. But he's also the guy who would give you the shirt off his back if you needed it, the guy that's always there to pick you up and make sure you get home safe, even if it is at 9am the next morning.

Thus, the first half of the movie looked like it was shaping up into an "all men are pigs" rant a la The Breakup. Dupree laments that his friend has gone from wildchild to boring married guy, and Carl tries to recapture some of his lost party spirit, which leads to much eyerolling and condescension. Men never grow up. Men can't take commitment seriously.

However, it does develop into a pretty deep movie, where Dupree helps Carl get back with his wife, get back at his domineering, overbearing, emasculating father-in-law and boss, Mr Thompson (Michael Douglas), and get back his essential Carlness.

Some genuinely hilarious dialogue, some truly side-splitting scenes, and, on the whole, the movie is pretty good.

You do get to see Owen Wilson's arse, though.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

Doombreed rating: ****

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