You, Me and Dupree

Not formulaic enough

By CHRIS WANGLER | July 19, 2006

0.5 Stars

Formulaic might have been okay. But this vacuous comedy about a predictable slacker (Owen Wilson) who moves in with a pair of lame-ass newlyweds (Matt Dillon, Kate Hudson) isn’t nearly formulaic enough. Saddled with a wretched script, the film’s two directors (Anthony and Joe Russo) conduct a workshop on how to sculpt a potentially decent premise (with origins, alas, in TV sit-coms) into a shapeless mass of warm, glistening pooh. Their disregard for the basics of filmmaking can be baffling. Kate Hudson’s character, who appears to have no friends whatsoever, pulls a total 180, embracing Dupree for no reason after hating him for the first half. Meanwhile, Dupree’s love interest, a sex-crazed Mormon school librarian whose presence is intended to reveal his tender, caring side, never appears on screen.

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