You, Me and Dupree - PG-13

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Dumb, obnoxious comedy about immature men.

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Rating: PG-13 for sexual content, brief nudity, crude humor, language and a drug reference. Studio: Universal Pictures Directed By: Joe Russo, Anthony Russo Cast: Matt Dillon, Kate Hudson, Owen Wilson Running Time: 108 minutes Release Date: 07/14/2006 Genre: Comedy

Common Sense Note

Parents should know that this movie is full of sexual references and quick cuts away from naked body parts to warrant the PG-13 rating... barely. There are verbal and visual references to masturbation, vasectomies (with a brochure diagramming the procedure), a porn video collection, emasculation, and a librarian at an elementary school who's apparently a "slut." We see a husband's paranoid fantasy about his wife (in a teeny bikini) making out with his best friend. The language includes one f-word plus other profanities, as well as the derogatory use of "homo." Characters smoke cigars and do a lot of social drinking (on occasion to the point of drunkenness), and one worries that he might "smell like weed" (you don't see him smoke). Adult male characters are rude, competitive, and juvenile.

Families can discuss "buddy comedies." How many other movies can you think of that feature juvenile male friendships? What makes this formula successful? Do you actually like these guys? What kind of values and stereotypes do these movies promote?

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Common Sense Review

Reviewed By: Cynthia Fuchs

Obnoxious and monotonous, YOU, ME AND DUPREE is yet another movie making fun of immature men and the women who put up with them. Following the path laid down by the R-rated hits, The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Wedding Crashers, this movie uses sexual activity and wild physical violence (as well as some crude language) to showcase Dupree's (Owen Wilson) disruptiveness.

Feeling left out when his best friend Carl (Matt Dillon) marries the beautiful and sensible elementary school teacher Molly (Kate Hudson), Dupree moves in, "for a week at the most." He sleeps in the nude on their couch, eats their food, leaves messes, and generally expects the newlyweds to play his parents, while he hangs out with the neighborhood kids and doesn't try very hard to get a job.

Painfully formulaic, the movie sets up ludicrous non-options for Molly and Carl, as they head toward conflict that will be resolved by the "intuitive" Dupree (this is one of those movies where, if only the couple would have one honest conversation within the first half-hour, the rest of it would be unnecessary). While Molly resents Dupree's childishness (and the fact that Carl behaves badly around him), she soon comes to see him as a sensitive spirit in need of looking after. By the same token, Carl is tired of Dupree's unreliability, but admires his "free spirit." Dupree looks blissful compared to his married friends, who feel hemmed in and humiliated; Neil's (Seth Rogen) wife yells at him from off-screen and has him on a curfew.

Because the movie needs to idealize Molly (else why would Carl give up Dupree for her?), it sets up her father, Mr. Thompson (Michael Douglas) as Carl's primary adversary. Working for Thompson's real estate development company, Carl feels belittled and emasculated, especially when the father-in-law inexplicably suggests he get a vasectomy, after he's extolled the virtues of creating a "legacy" just a few scenes earlier. Such lack of logic typifies the film, as Molly comes to care for Dupree and Dupree provides earnest life lessons for Carl.

In the end, You, Me and Dupree brings in the inevitable tinkly piano music and has Dupree pronounce the moral about "believing in yourself," first for Molly's young students, and then for Carl, drunk and depressed in a bar. While it might seem sweet, it also feels cynical.

Families who like this movie might like similarly themed movies, such as How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (with Hudson) or Failure to Launch. Or you might want to see a smarter version of the two men and a woman relationship, The Philadelphia Story.

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Content		CS	adults	kids
Content
Sexual Content Masturbation jokes (verbal and visual); discussions of vasectomies (including diagram of erect penis); we see Dupree's naked butt while he's asleep; references to Dupree's sexual activities (with butter and a "Mormon librarian" who turns out to be "a real slut"); several references to Carl's "Asian porn" collection; Carl imagines Molly and Dupree tongue-kissing.
Violence Fall on skateboarding ramp (Carl left with bruised lip); neighbor kid beat up by bullies; reference to "whacking" (Carl and Dupree like to watch The Sopranos); Carl punches his car in anger; Carl attacks Dupree (who ends up with a neck brace and bruised face); TV room burns, leaving everyone charred-looking; security guard chases Dupree through office building (throwing objects, crashing through walls, breaking doors).
Language Pushing PG-13 edge, with one f-word, several uses of s--t, and frequent uses of other obscenities.
Message
	Social Behavior Male characters -- including Molly's father -- are uniformly immature and annoying: they lie, say cruel things, and engage in more than one "stinky" bathroom joke.
	Commercialism Mentions of Starbucks, HBO, ESPN, Twinkies.
	Drug/Alcohol/Tobacco Drinking; drinking games; brief cigar and cigarette smoking, mention of "weed," though we don't see anyone smoke it.