COUPLES RETREAT

Couples Retreat is a funny comedy with a charming ensemble cast and a worthwhile central message: marriage requires lifelong commitment. The couples are forced to confront problems they have ignored, and the film presents communicating and hearing your spouse out as solid principles for repairing a marriage.

That message comes with a real cost. The movie includes minor foul language, implied sexuality between a married couple, upper and rear male nudity, and yoga positions that simulate sexual activity. Those moments undercut the film’s celebration of marriage and make it unsuitable for children and young teens.

If you are a discerning adult who can handle the content, the movie offers genuine encouragement about working through marital problems. For family movie night, choose something else.

Four couples take a weeklong vacation at a resort where they expect relaxation but instead encounter marriage counseling, yoga, and other relationship-building activities.

Jason and Cynthia are near divorce. Dave and Ronni take each other for granted. Lucy and Joey have begun cheating on each other, while Shane is divorced and dating a 20-year-old. The resort gives all four couples little room to hide from their problems.

Three stars means this is a funny, worthwhile comedy with noticeable flaws. The ensemble cast is charming and works well together, and the film makes you want the couples to solve their marital troubles.

The story is sometimes predictable, but its marriage counseling principles give the comedy substance. The film’s light touch does not erase its strengths, especially its emphasis on communication and hearing a spouse out.

The film strongly honors marriage and presents it as a lifelong commitment. Characters who regret marrying young or who want to discover what they missed outside marriage ultimately recognize that marriage is better than a wild, pagan lifestyle and embrace their commitments.

That moral center aligns with a biblical honor for marriage. The film also includes a mention of God making man in His own image, but its worldview is mixed with pagan and false religious elements. Its positive convictions about marital faithfulness are weakened by the obscene moments surrounding them.

Scripture grounds human dignity in God’s creation: “So God created man in his own image” (Genesis 1:27). It also says, “Let marriage be held in honor among all” (Hebrews 13:4).

This funny, charming comedy makes a clear case for working through marital problems and honoring lifelong commitment. But its sexual content and nudity are too raunchy for children and young teens. For discerning adults, it is WORTH THE TRIP — ADULTS ONLY. For other family options, see.