Me, You & Dupree: Two’s Company, Dupree’s a Crowd
We meet Carl (Matt Dillon) and Molly (Kate Hudson) the day before their paradise wedding, but then Carl has to go and pick up his best man and old school buddy Dupree (Owen Wilson), who had flown to the wrong Hawaiian island: “they all sound the same”.
Back home after the nuptials, Carl arrives at the pub for the regular guys night out and hears that Dupree has been fired from his job, lost his apartment and had his company car taken away. Dupree -never happier than when near a pool table and a bowl of pretzels – is quite happy to sleep behind the bar, but Carl insists that he comes to stay with him and Molly until he gets himself sorted out. Big mistake.
Molly is skeptical, especially when there are some very early disasters – a small fire, a blocked toilet and the humiliation of walking in on Dupree “romancing” her work colleague Wendy with a knob of butter – but Dupree’s got a big heart and means no harm. He’s an instant hit with the local kids as well – they love to hang out and go skateboarding with him.
Carl is not having such a good time though; having married the daughter of his boss Mr. Thompson (Michael Douglas) he has suddenly been given much more responsibility as is working longer hours. Underneath all that, he is sure that Mr. Thompson doesn’t really like him at all, especially when he suggests that Carl considers getting a vasectomy.
With the Honeymoon Period wearing off and Dupree’s hapless but good-hearted attempts to get on with his life stalled, Carl becomes convinced that Dupree has his eye on something else: Molly. Three’s become very much a crowdâÂ?¦
Wilson is responsible for plenty of funny moments in You, Me & Dupree, but writer Mike LeSieur has injected some effective drama and emotion into the story as well. Alongside his well-known improvising, Wilson also does something you don’t often see; he acts with his body too, using a number of walks and slouches to emphasize his character.
Hudson and Dillon also give great performances as a newly married couple realizing that “growing up” isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, and the scenes where take on opposite stereotypical marriage roles (e.g. nagging wife vs. the husband who says his wife has “let herself go”) really adds some depth to their characters.
Top of the tree though is Wilson, who seems like the ultimate big kid. He’s really the top of the so-called “Frat Pack”, the new millennium version of the Brat Pack that contains actors who often work together in movies; members include Wilson and his brother Luke, Ben Stiller, Will Ferrell and Vince Vaughn. They’re representative of a generation who has grown up but are finding the responsibility of being “an adult” hard to handle; why can’t you still mess around every now and then?
Although the psycho father story never really catches fire and Kate Hudson seems to be scantily-clad more than seems necessary, the high silliness, charm and laughs in this comedy make it a movie that – like Dupree – you can’t help but love. Watch for a tiny cameo by Lance Armstrong and an uncredited one by movie legend Harry Dean Stanton!
You, Me & Dupree
Directors: Anthony & Joe Russo
Starring: Owen Wilson, Matt Dillon, Kate Hudson, Michael Douglas
Duration: 108 mins
USA: PG-13
www.youmeanddupree.com
