You, Me and Dupree - Austin American-Statesman movie review

'You, Me and Dupree' is a lazy summer comedy

By ANDREA LORENZ
Austin American-Statesman

Score one for the guys. Here's a so-called date movie you might actually like.

Women? What do we care about them? The folks who made "You, Me and Dupree" certainly don't. The only female character we actually see is Kate Hudson — hardly an acting marvel. Sure, she plays cute well. She giggles, she flirts and yes, in this movie, too, she smiles her tiny butt off. But portray a strong character she does not.

Universal Pictures

'You, Me and Dupree'

3 out of 5 stars

The verdict: Like the slacker best friend, the film hangs around — both annoying and entertaining.

Directors: Joe Russo, Anthony Russo
Starring: Owen Wilson, Kate Hudson, Matt Dillon, Michael Douglas, Amanda Detmer
Run time: 109 minutes
Release date: July 14, 2006
Rating: PG-13 for sexual content, brief nudity, crude humor, language and a drug reference.
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Which Wilson Wins?
Make a head-to-head comparison of the talents of Owen and Luke Wilson.

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The two other females we know only from their voices: One is a controlling wife who gives her husband a curfew and the other a slutty librarian.

The latest venture from directors Anthony and Joe Russo (of "Arrested Development" fame) does not live up to the laughs of last summer's "Wedding Crashers" nor the cleverness of "There's Something About Mary." It's only almost as enjoyable as other films in the genre.

"Dupree" includes the requisite bathroom scene (two in fact) with overflow and stink, a bachelor party, caught-in-the-act sex and semi-sensitive male-on-male deep talks.

It goes like this: Carl (Matt Dillon) is newly wed to Hudson's character, Molly. Carl works for Molly's dad, Mr. Thompson (Michael Douglas).

Mr. Thompson hates Carl for reasons we never know.

Carl seems like a decent enough guy. He works hard, loves Molly and can somehow afford a light-blue house with all the fixings.

Enter Randy Dupree (Owen Wilson). Dupree is that friend who, no matter how many times he messes up — including a fire in said light-blue house — is too dang lovable to ditch.

Dupree moves in to the dismay of Molly, but his poetic side is all she needs to see to forgive him for sleeping naked on the couch, ordering HBO, changing the answering machine message and slacking on the job front.

Combine Molly and Dupree's new bond, Mr. Thompson's disrespect and no play with his new wife thanks to Dupree's interruptions, and you have one irate Carl.

With this cast, the movie should be funnier. The plot could use tweaking. (Like why would Douglas' character, a man so intent to carry on his family name that he suggests Carl take on the Thompson name, also ask Carl to get a vasectomy? Aren't grandchildren the surest way to continue a name?)

But a summer movie is best enjoyed without thinking too hard.

Dillon's emasculation draws laughs and verges on ridiculous when his wife jibes him for gaining weight (it's hard to believe that with his physique, Dillon has ever eaten a Twinkie).

Wilson is believable (unsurprisingly so) as a free-spirited slacker with puppy-dog eyes. He pulls through for his bud in a hilarious chase scene and keeps the laughs going till the end. Together, Wilson and Dillon lift the movie from two stars to three.

Two added bonuses: a dozen Lance Armstrong references and a cameo appearance, and eye candy for all with Hudson in a bikini for one scene and a sparingly clothed Wilson in just about every scene.