2006年VOA标准英语-Old 'Romantic Triangle' Gets Fresh Comic Treatm

By Alan Silverman
Hollywood
15 July 2006
 
  
  
Randall Dupree enjoys life. In fact, he freely admits that happiness is his number one goal and he won't let things like not having a job or a place to live stand in the way. This 30-something free spirit is overjoyed to be best man at the wedding of his best friend since childhood, Carl; but that relationship is not the only one put to the test when, right after the honeymoon¹, Carl tells his bride Molly that they have an unexpected house guest:

To Molly, it seems like Dupree is moving in for a more extended stay, and it doesn't help her mood when she accidentally discovers his habit of sleeping 'au naturel:'

Owen Wilson turns on all his boyish charm in the role of Dupree, the guest who will not leave. "Kind of like Dupree, I think I definitely try to avoid being jaded² or cynical³. I try to have enthusiasm. Dupree carries that much further than I do, but I think that's a very good quality," he says.

 
Owen Wilson, Kate Hudson and Matt Dillon in You, Me and Dupree
  
Wilson says the film's plot mirrors experiences he has had with his brothers Luke and Andrew and familiar to many, if not most, young people newly on their own. There have probably been some times that I have been like Dupree. I know that my older brother says that Luke and I wrecked⁴ his first marriage because we were always staying at his house. We had a ladder set up so we could go into the second story window. One time Andrew had locked me out and I needed to get some of my clothes and I fell through the ceiling. That made its way into "...Dupree." So, yes, I think I've experienced that; but I've also been on the other end. I had Woody Harrelson staying with me and I'd say 'well, I'm on my way to a meeting, Woody. I'll talk to you later on.' He answered 'wait, are you going in your car? What am I going to do?' ...So it felt that Woody was a little like Dupree," he says.

"Oh yes, I've had multiple 'Duprees' in my life over the years: friends of yours who sort of get into your life and they are more entanglements⁵ than they are relationships," says Matt Dillon, who co-stars as new husband and put-upon best friend Carl. "Even though Dupree is like his old friend, as soon as he comes on ...he doesn't do it deliberately⁶, he's guileless (and) he means well ...everything he does is disastrous⁷ for Carl, so Carl finds himself often having to clean up for Dupree. I have had friendships like that. I can think of a number of things in this film that really mirror things in my own life in some way," he says.

"It's funny, Molly, my character in the movie, as patient as she is, I'm still a little bit more patient," says Kate Hudson, who plays newlywed Molly and says she knows the "...Dupree" phenomenon well in her off-screen life, with unexpected and extended stays by, among others, colleagues of her rock star husband ('Black Crowes' lead singer Chris Robinson). "I actually kind of enjoy it. I enjoy a lively house. I enjoy weird⁸ characters. I had one who was crashing at our house for over a year - my best girlfriend - so, what are you going to do?"

However, Hudson believes that the situation in the film - the husband's best friend moving in - is more typical of what really happens. "I think it is a guys' story. I think it's a story about a guy who loses his best friend to his new best friend, who is his wife. As much we're all on screen together, the movie is about the passage of marriage and what it means for people, especially for Dupree, when they lose their friend. We're getting a little too serious; it is just a comedy, but there is this sense that in a guy's world, sometimes it is just all about the guys ...and that's okay," she says.

"You, Me and Dupree also features Michael Douglas as the doting⁹ father of the bride (and the groom's boss). There's also a cameo by Dupree's inspiration, bicycle champion Lance Armstrong. The comedy is co-directed by filmmaking brothers Joe and Anthony Russo.

1 honeymoon   

n.蜜月（假期）；vi.度蜜月

参考例句：

• While on honeymoon in Bali,she learned to scuba dive.她在巴厘岛度蜜月时学会了带水肺潜水。
• The happy pair are leaving for their honeymoon.这幸福的一对就要去度蜜月了。

2 jaded   

adj.精疲力竭的；厌倦的；（因过饱或过多而）腻烦的；迟钝的

参考例句：

• I felt terribly jaded after working all weekend. 整个周末工作之后我感到疲惫不堪。
• Here is a dish that will revive jaded palates. 这道菜简直可以恢复迟钝的味觉。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 cynical   

adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的，不信世道向善的

参考例句：

• The enormous difficulty makes him cynical about the feasibility of the idea.由于困难很大，他对这个主意是否可行持怀疑态度。
• He was cynical that any good could come of democracy.他不相信民主会带来什么好处。

4 wrecked   

adj.失事的，遇难的

参考例句：

• the hulk of a wrecked ship 遇难轮船的残骸
• the salvage of the wrecked tanker 对失事油轮的打捞

5 entanglements   

n.瓜葛( entanglement的名词复数 )；牵连；纠缠；缠住

参考例句：

• Mr. White threaded his way through the legal entanglements. 怀特先生成功地解决了这些法律纠纷。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• At dawn we broke through the barbed wire entanglements under the city wall. 拂晓我们突破了城墙的铁丝网。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

7 disastrous   

adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的

参考例句：

• The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
• Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨，血本无归。

8 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

9 doting   

adj.溺爱的，宠爱的

参考例句：

• His doting parents bought him his first racing bike at 13.宠爱他的父母在他13岁时就给他买了第一辆竞速自行车。
• The doting husband catered to his wife's every wish.这位宠爱妻子的丈夫总是高度满足太太的各项要求。