Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the gap of time between the start of the school year and American Thanksgiving. We are now officially in the nether region -- the gap between summer and Christmas blockbuster season -- too early yet for films with dreams of Oscar dancing about in their heads to hit screens. Along with the January-February stretch, this is one of the true wastelands of Hollywood film releasing, a time when it is possible to go several consecutive weeks without a single 'big' film rolling out.
Case in point: While next week gets Where The Wild Things Are and the new Coen Brothers flick plus a couple others in wide release, this week features a grand total of one new wide release film. One. Normally when this happens it is a sign that rival distributors are essentially conceding defeat and clearing the decks, saving their releases for a week that doesn't feature such awe-inspiring competition, but this week... well, this week I think it's just that nobody else has anything to release, period.
Why would I say such a thing? Mostly because the sole wide release is Couples Retreat, just the second directorial effort in the career of Peter Billingsley. Yep, the decks have been cleared to make way for the guy who played Ralphie in A Christmas Story. Yeah, I know... Billingsley only got the job because he's friends with Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau -- both of whom star -- and if people are getting out of anyone's way it's those guys, or maybe co-star Jason Bateman, but let's be honest: this is not exactly the sort of film that inspires fear, meaning if this is all Hollywood has to offer, we are truly on fallow times.
That said, I should also be honest about the fact that the trailer for this one makes me giggle more than just a little. And it's not really the Vaughn/Favreau/Bateman triumvirate that's getting me, although I like all three of them just fine. And it sure as hell ain't Sex in the City co-star Kristen Davis. Ick. No, it's some clever casting in the support bits that make this one work, as far as it does, in my book. Classic French tough guy Jean Reno -- you know him from The Professional or Ronin -- has fantastic comic skills that he seldom gets to show off on this continent but they're letting him run with things here, and even better, they've had the good sense to make Peter Serafinowicz a major player. Serafinowicz' biggest Hollywood role to date is still his bit as the voice of Darth Maul but he's a staple of the Edgar Wright/Simon Pegg cabal, with key parts in both Shaun of the Dead and Spaced which have helped him yield a large and loyal following in the UK. Serafinowicz is one of the funniest deadpan comics going out there and anything smart enough to feature his talents is okay by me.