Review of You, Me and Dupree (2006) by Enan — 22 Aug 2010

Me, You and Dupree had too much potential. The genuinity of the film's concept actually prompted its own downfall. The trailer snagged me early spring; having everything to do with Hudson and Wilson. The idea proved especially poignant after a near two week stint, of my own, in a friends spare room. The circumstances of both Dupree and my own living circumstances were sickly similar. Movies just sometimes come out around the perfect time in your own life.

First time writer Mike LeSieur must have dealt with a similar nomadic friend to prompt such a likable device for a film. A more likely scenario might be that LeSieur was a nomad himself. Writers, though keen to point out truths, are restricted by their own experience. LeSieur saw something grand in what it means to float, but in the end, relied on Owen Wilsons tried and true interpretation skills to bring any substance to Dupree. Wilson fleshed out somewhat of a character in a script laden with skeletal characterization. The ideas were solid, but storytelling is more than initial concept.

Owen Wilson was a producer on the film. Turning out to be more of a business man than I, or even Wes Anderson might have imagined, Wilson has manifested his own path to success. His best films are the Anderson compilations, and outside of those I can only truly commend him for Minus Man, Zoolander, and Meet the Parents. I cant help but appreciate Wilson, but I am getting distracted by his motives of late. There is the off chance he is diabolically exploiting his own pigeonhole to get the power to present himself with more diverse roles. Yet, by producing the film, it seems Wilson defies any altruist hypothetical.

Me, You and Dupree had moments. The soundtrack was great(Blind Melon/Coldplay), the career day pep talk by Wilson was a gem, and Seth Rogen turned in another scene stealing performance. Having been so enraptured by the characters of Wilson(Bottle Rocket, Royal Tenenbaums, Life Aquatic), Dillon(Drugstore Cowboy, Wild Things, Crash), Douglas(Game, Falling Down, Traffic) and even Hudson(Almost Famous) in the past, I couldnt buy into their hollow nature here. I was grateful when the film had ended, but cursed knowing Id have wanted another hour were it done right.

Interestingly, the director had worked on a handful of episodes of Arrested Development. For the very reason that show worked, this film does not. The off the wall antics of Arrested Development could not sustain a theater going audience. With such derivative scripting, Me You and Dupree couldnt get us to care enough. Feeling detached in a 22 minute sitcom is appropriate, but when devoting over 100 minutes certain expectations must be met.