I have seen and enjoyed several of Kate Hudson’s movies as well as several of Owen Wilson’s. I like both of them so I was interested in seeing You, Me and Dupree after I first heard about it a few months ago. Since then, I have seen the trailer a few times and thought it looked funny so I headed off to see the movie.

Molly and Carl got married in Hawaii. Once they were back home, Carl found out that his best man, Dupree, lost his job for taking the time off to go to the wedding which lead to him losing his apartment. Carl took Dupree home, telling Molly it would just be for a few days while Dupree looked for a new job. The very next morning, Molly and Carl were greeted with the sight of Dupree’s bare behind on their couch. Dupree seemed to just be goofing off instead of looking for a job and he managed to cause trouble around the house. He even took a date home and managed to start a fire. Carl was also dealing with work related stress caused by his boss and father-in-law, Mr. Thompson. Dupree started getting his act together while Carl started to crack from all the pressure he was under.

Over the last few months, I have seen the trailer for You, Me and Dupree several times and I thought it looked like the movie would be funny. Unfortunately, once again, the funniest things in the movie were shown in the trailer. This movie was nowhere near as funny as I had hoped it would be, so I was disappointed with the movie. There were some funny moments that made me laugh throughout the movie. There just weren’t enough of them for a comedy. The stretches between the laughs were entirely too long, leaving a lot of time when the movie dragged. Some gross type humor was added into some scenes and most of those things really didn’t work. The gross things really weren’t that explicit, though they could bother some viewers. I wasn’t offended by them. I just didn’t think they were funny. The things that did make me laugh were things that Dupree said or did. If any of the things that Mr. Thompson said were supposed to be funny, they missed the mark by a long shot. Neil, another friend of Carl and Dupree, was always complaining about his wife and trying to make jokes about how miserable he was in his marriage. Those things weren’t funny at all.

You, Me and Dupree was supposed to be a comedy but a lot of time was devoted to a more serious sub plot concerning Dupree trying to get his life together. Dupree did a few somewhat serious talks that did seem a bit out of place with the rest of the movie. He said some things in those more serious moments that made sense. They just didn’t go well with the rest of the movie. Some movies have been able to successfully blend some serious elements into a comedy in a way that worked well. I didn’t think that happened in this movie. Maybe it could have worked if the script had been stronger. The serious bits slowed the pace way down and made several scenes drag. I’m still not sure why a few scenes were even included at all. The uneven pace of the movie made it seem like it was longer than 108 minutes.

Molly and Carl’s wedding was briefly shown within the first few minutes of the movie and they had just got back from their honeymoon when the main story really got going. Molly and Carl were very affectionate with each other and there were a few sexual situations between them. Those situations didn’t really go beyond some kissing. During one of them, Molly was wearing a tank top and a small pair of panties that showed off her body somewhat. She was in a bikini in one or two other scenes as well but she never got naked. Dupree was the only character that had any nudity in the movie when his bare backside was shown in one scene. A little later in the movie, he brought his date home and some quick shots established that he was doing something to her with butter without really showing much. Dupree did run out of the house naked except for a few strategically held pillows. Later in the movie, Dupree was interrupted when he was watching porn and it was made clear that he wasn’t only watching the movie. Early in the movie, Neil was shown laying on the beach wearing only his underwear. That wasn’t a pretty sight. The sexual content wasn’t extremely explicit, but it was explicit enough to warrant a PG-13 rating. I don’t remember a lot of swearing being used, though one character made an obscene hand gesture in one scene. There was also a reference to drug use. Because of those things, this really isn’t a movie for children to see.

You, Me and Dupree focused on three characters, Molly, Carl, and Dupree. I didn’t think there was much character development for any of them, though Dupree did receive a bit more than the other two. Dupree was a nice guy that just didn’t have much ambition. Even though he did some horrible things, I still thought he was a likable character overall. He had good intentions. He had a more serious side that his friends weren’t aware of. I did like Owen Wilson in the part even though he’s been much funnier in other movies.

Molly was trying to be understanding about Dupree staying with them. She did get fed up, but Molly came to like him. Molly was a kind woman that was trying to understand why her husband was acting different. Kate Hudson did fine with what she had to work with. I have liked her in other movies where she had the chance to be funnier. It was disappointing that she didn’t get the chance to add more humor to this movie. She showed that she could also handle serious parts in The Skeleton Key. Molly’s father, Mr. Thompson, said things at the rehearsal that indicated he was happy she was getting married and then later said things to Carl that contradicted that. Mr. Thompson owned a very successful land development company. He was very controlling about his business and even his daughter. His part wasn’t that big in the movie, so Michael Douglas didn’t have that much to do.

Carl seemed like a nice guy at first. Then as more things went wrong with Dupree and he was under more stress related to a project at work, Carl started changing. He was working later and skipping out on Molly. Carl wasn’t handling the new stressful situations well and he ended up acting like a jerk which added conflict to his relationship with Molly. All of that could have been avoided if he had just talked to her. Carl’s attitude deteriorated so much that I started to wonder why Molly didn’t kick him out. He just wasn’t a likable character to me and I didn’t care what happened with him. Matt Dillion was fine in the part. Neil was another friend of Carl and Dupree. Neil was a very flat character, mostly just making cracks about married life in general and complaining about his own marriage when he was around. That got old in a hurry. Seth Rogen had a bigger part in The 40 Year Old Virgin. I think Neil’s wife was Annie. She was just heard screaming in the background of one scene.

Main Cast

Amanda Detmer - Annie
Matt Dillion - Carl
Michael Douglas - Mr. Thompson
Kate Hudson - Molly
Seth Rogen - Neil
Owen Wilson - Dupree

Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo

You, Me and Dupree was nowhere near as funny as I had hoped it would be. People in the mood for a good comedy will more than likely be disappointed with this one. The movie had a good idea for the plot and then just didn’t do well enough on the follow through. The movie did have some entertaining moments and a good cast, so it wasn’t all bad. There just needed to be more of those moments. I would recommend this movie only for fans of the cast.

This review is part of elvisdo’s Canadian Write-Off. Seth Rogen is originally from Vancouver, British Colombia.

Michael Douglas Movies
Basic Instinct ~ A Perfect Murder ~ The Sentinel ~

Owen Wilson Movies
Around the World in 80 Days ~ Cars ~ Meet the Fockers ~ Starsky & Hutch ~ Wedding Crashers ~


Recommended: Yes