YOU, ME AND DUPREE

"My little Duprees"

Carl (Dillon) and Molly (Hudson) have just got married and are about to start their lives together but they didn't count on Carl's best friend Dupree. After losing his job after taking a week off for the wedding and then returning home to find out that he had been evicted from his home, Carl asks him to stay with them until he gets himself sorted out. But Dupree's free-living style to finding a job and life in general might not make him the best houseguest Carl and Molly could ever have.

Hollywood has finally realised that romantic comedies with adult jokes in them are not just the realm of teen movies but can 'You, Me and Dupree' continue to pull in the audiences?

After the success of films like 'Old School', 'The 40 Year-Old Virgin', 'The Wedding Crashers' and 'The Break-Up', the major studios have finally realised that romantic comedies featuring risqué jokes about sex, pornography and bodily functions don't have to be filled with teenagers and young people and aimed at that age bracket only. Stars like Vince Vaughn, Luke Wilson, Will Farrell, Steve Carell, Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson have changed all of this and proved once and for all that you don't have to be young to enjoy a dirty joke.

The mix of rude jokes and romance allows these movies to play to both sexes, as romantic comedies used to be mainly the domain of the female audience. Now instead of the boyfriend or husband moaning about having to sit through endearing romance with the odd joke and laugh thrown in, they can enjoy humour that is more appealing to them. This doesn't come at the expense of romance however, so the female audience still has the storyline that appeals to them. Getting the balance right is hard however and 'You, Me and Dupree' doesn't quite do it.

Dupree is another character that allows Owen Wilson to have fun. He has to be one of the most likable comedic actors working in cinema today and Dupree is a character that you cannot help but like. He might be a slacker with a carefree attitude to life but everyone would like a friend like him. Carl and Molly are played by Matt Dillon and the lovely Kate Hudson and this is were the mix strays more towards the female audience. In a totally unneeded plotline that is only used to push the couple apart, Molly's father, played by a truly wasted Michael Douglas, hates Carl and tries to ruin their marriage. This takes the story away from Dupree and is only their to provide some conflict between Carl and Molly and it would have all been ended if Molly had asked her father why he is working her new husband so hard. It isn't helped by the fact that Matt Dillon seems to be uncomfortable in the role, even though he is no stranger to comedy after appearing in 'There's Something About Mary'. Kate Hudson is very good however and is her instantly loveable self, making Molly a character that both sexes will adore, for different reasons of course. There is also a good comedic performance from Seth Rogen, who last starred in 'The 40 Year-Old Virgin', as Dupree and Carl's other friend, the henpecked Neil.

'You, Me and Dupree' is a romantic comedy that doesn't quite get the mix right. While there is a lot to enjoy here, especially the performance of Owen Wilson as Dupree, it is the Carl/Father-in-Law storyline that doesn't really work, taking much of the comedy out of the film and replacing it with marriage conflict. This will play more to a female audience, leaving the men just waiting for Dupree to return so they can start enjoying the film again. Expect more romance than comedy and you will enjoy this film a lot more.

The Wedding Crashers

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2006