( CNN ) -- Remember `` You 're money , baby '' ? Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau making the L.A. bar scene in `` Swingers '' back in 1996 ? In the film , couples go to the Eden Resort , which is offering a great package deal on relationship counseling . They were young and hungry then , and there was insolence in their hustle , but at least they pressed their case : They knew they were sharp enough to be players . Since then , Favreau has gone on to direct blockbusters like `` Elf '' and `` Iron Man , '' and his buddy Vaughn has stacked up a string of hits in the company of Frat Packers Will Ferrell , Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson . Well , they 're not hungry anymore , and not so young either . Between them ( and with an assist from Dana `` What Happens in Vegas '' Fox ) , they have cooked up `` Couples Retreat , '' a marriage comedy that coincidentally doubles as an enviable excuse for an extended shoot in Bora Bora . Watch the stars talk about the shoot » . That 's the tropical location of the Eden Resort , which is offering a great package deal for married couples looking for relationship counseling . Jason and Cynthia ( Jason Bateman and Kristen Bell ) want to give it a shot , and persuade their supposedly happily married friends Dave and Ronnie ( Vaughn and Malin Akerman ) , Joey and Lucy ( Favreau and Kristin Davis ) , and Shane and his 20-year-old girlfriend Trudy ( Faizon Love and Kali Hawk ) to join in the fun . Apparently , nobody has trouble raising the fare , even in these recessionary times . Once there , however , they are dismayed to find Eden is run with iron discipline , and the mandatory therapy sessions soon expose serious cracks in each of the relationships . Directed by Peter `` A Christmas Story '' Billingsley -- another old friend of Vaughn 's -- `` Couples Retreat '' ca n't decide if it 's satirizing New Age-y therapies or exploring marital breakdown . So it gives us a little of both , with some sub-Apatow sex humor on the side . As a commercial recipe , that 's fine . America 's ticket buyers have shown time and again they 're desperate for a laugh and willing to overlook widespread mediocrity to get it . But you might hope for something a bit less lazy from this team . And should n't a movie with `` Couples '' in the title be less lopsided in its approach to the sexes ? I guess in contrast to such boys-will-be-boys romps as `` The Hangover '' and `` Wild Hogs , '' at least this time the wives get to come along , not that any of them has much to say for herself . Trudy wants to party . Lucy has eyes for the yoga instructor ( Carlos Ponce ) . Ronnie wants some romance . And Cynthia ... I do n't know what Cynthia wants , but getting away from her control freak husband certainly seems like the way to go . The guys are noticeably chubbier , but equally one-dimensional . It 's just that that dimension enjoys rather more screen time as Billingsley indulges Vaughn and Favreau 's less-than-inspired improvisational riffs on marital frustration , machismo and middle-age spread . We even have to endure a Guitar Hero duel . For a movie made by a bunch of friends , it 's strange that we do n't get any sense of how or why these couples hang out together . But so long as there 's a pretentious Frenchman to scoff at , an officious Brit and a sexy Hispanic , at least they 're united by what they 're not . Whether by accident or design , `` Couples Retreat '' does such a good job exposing what selfish , insensitive jerks these guys are , the contrived and conventional ending actually has a feel-bad undertow . You 've got to suspect that back home in suburbia , these couples are doomed to live unhappily ever after . `` Couples Retreat '' is rated PG-13 and runs 107 minutes .
`` Couples Retreat '' stars , was co-written by Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau . Plot concerns couples who head for a vacation in Bora Bora , issues in tow . Movie offers some nice scenery , but it 's lazy with the laughs and plot . Most of the movie focuses on male half of couples .