You, Me and Dupree

Not just another third wheel movie.














I must admit I was initially trying my best to hate You, Me and Dupree because it has the makings of a feel-bad comedy (which I am beginning to resent). That I hate "domestic hostage" movies (Duplex, What about Bob?, Pacific Heights etc) did not help much either. However, this movie somehow managed to wear down my defences. The screws of contrived tension may be wound ever so tightly by the minute but the counter-balancing humour and unassuming warmth marches on, urging me to continue watching. Most of all, its steady flow of goodwill charms slowly but surely won me over, of which the main source of this glow emanated from the goofy but sincere Owen Wilson. From wrongly perceived feel-bad beginnings, Dupree eventually got me feeling good, really good.

And as I watched on through the midway point, I realised this film also illuminated itself in more ways than one. It may be dressed like a sporadically sloppy comedy with convenient caricatures befitting a "third wheel" movie, but gradually and imperceptibly, it dispenses an antidotal rush of blood to the head. Owen and the myriad cast have shown that they do the things they do because they are daunted by the direction the river is flowing. They lack the commitment to swim upstream because, unlike salmons, they are hampered by questions of this survival instinct. With our differing and sometimes unattainable "beliefs", some of us will naturally doubt our purpose and endeavour to continuously search for new ones, only to completely lose ourselves along the way. Yet others, resigned to muted acceptance of what is perceived to be the limited meaning of life, decent people them all, bear the greatest fear and burden - of disappointing the ones we love. However, what is most surprising about this movie is its eventual intuition and sensitivity. It bothers to tell us that while we misplace so much trust in our fears (or run away from them, depending on our perspectives), we may forget to the trust the strength of faith and mutual love our loved ones have for us. Awesome.

As if the above sunshine is not enough to brighten up the gloomy haze, this movie also sneaked in interesting observations about friendships. Even if we delusionally think we do, we don't choose our friends, they choose us. Most of the time, they just randomly slide in and out of our spheres, at different stages of our lives. The real ones stay on, the others fade away. For better or worse, they infect us with their presence. An outsider may sometimes wonder, why would people with seemingly no common traits end up as fast, loyal, longtime friends? Truth is, friendships evolve, strengthen or weaken over time, and should not be taken for granted, because they fulfil our very human needs. Our friends don't necessarily have to share in our lifeviews all the time, but their similar or differing perspectives on things may in fact reinforce our beliefs or put our excesses in check. They watch our backs and become the seeing eye bitches of our respective blindspots. Most importantly, the thought that there is a surrogate family out there who unconditionally share in the ups and downs with you, is certainly something to be grateful for. I for one think true friendship is a beautiful thing and due in part to personal failings or the random whiles of fate, is very hard to come by. I hence shudder to think how empty life may be, without it.

Entertaining, warm and illustratively inspirational, I love the positive spin of this hopeful movie. To conclude, forgive me for being about to lay it thick with the following euphemisms (this is after all, just a comedy, damn it!), but as we flow down the streams of hopes and fears, as we traverse the great rivers of love and friendships, You, Me and Dupree is the affirmative kind of boats which will arm us with sturdy paddles and fortify our resolve to row towards the deep blue sea, of life. Amen!

You, Me and Dupree opens this week in local cinemas. Watch out for it.