destined gifts

There are a lot of broad comedies about men refusing to grow up, but few have the sly bite of You, Me and Dupree. Even though Carl (Matt Dillon, Crash, There's Something About Mary) is newly married to Molly (Kate Hudson, Almost Famous, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days), when his best friend Dupree (Owen Wilson, Wedding Crashers, The Life Aquatic) ends up homeless, Carl invites Dupree into their house--in which Dupree promptly makes himself at home, culminating in setting the place on fire during lurid sex. But though he's trapped between his wife and his best friend, Carl may have bigger problems as his boss--and father-in-law--hates him and is sneakily working against his marriage. You, Me and Dupree seems at first glance to be a frat-boy farce about men being emasculated by their wives, but the well-written script, guided with a sure hand by director team Joe and Anthony Russo (who each directed episodes of the top-notch TV series Arrested Development), successfully walks a treacherous path between multi-layered characters and comic events, and is all the funnier as a result. Michael Douglas (Wonder Boys, Fatal Attraction) turns in a sharp, nasty performance as Molly's overly-possessive father. Also featuring Seth Rogan (The 40 Year Old Virgin). --Bret Fetzer