A One Mann’s Movies review of “Spa Weekend”. (2026, 2*, 15).
I saw the trailer for the one and went “Nope, not for me”. But I wanted to catch up on a double bill and this was the only film that worked with the other one, timing wise. Actually, it was *marginally* better than I expected it to be and I can see that for the right demographic (and with a couple of bottles of wine inside them) then this might be quite fun.
One Mann’s Movies Rating:
Plot:
Jane, Coco, Sophie and Mel grow up as friends. But now in mid-life, they distance themselves from Mel who has always had a few screws loose. When the three friends go to a luxury resort to celebrate Jane’s birthday, they are delighted at the relaxing environment and treatments. But Sophie has secretly invited Mel too and when she turns up, all hell breaks loose.
Certification:
UK: 15; US: R. (From the BBFC website: “Strong language, sex references, drug misuse”)
Talent:
Starring: Leslie Mann, Isla Fisher, Michelle Buteau, Anna Faris, Dominic Ona-Ariki, Adam Demos, Courtney Clarke, Erika Heynatz, Diana Glenn.
Directed by: Jon Lucas & Scott Moore.
Written by: Jon Lucas & Scott Moore.
Running Time: 1h 37m.
Review:
Positives:
- A number of the lines were amusing and generated a laugh. Mel (Isla Fisher) in the ‘guided meditation’ class claims to have a fear of “Bears and Tom Hanks” and is forced to pick one. There is also some chuckle-worthy antics with a ‘Goat yoga’ class. A tantric hand massage that Aussie yoga-teacher hottie Kai (Adam Demos) has shades of a famous scene in When Harry Met Sally and was well acted by Leslie Mann.
- The fictional resort – Solaris Eden Beach – looks glorious in a White Lotus sort of way. It’s actually the Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort in Gold Coast, Australia.
Negatives:
- The opening of the film (to B*witched “C’est La Vie” – epic!) has our four friends as tweens and paints Mel early on as a car-stealing psycho. But spin forwards to the present day and we have three very clunky intros to the other characters: you can almost feel the director ticking them off his shot list. Jane (Leslie Mann, my friend*) is an overworked lawyer and single mum who is stressed out to the extreme. When a cute lawyer makes a pass at her after a trial, her only free date is in 3 month’s time. Sophie (Anna Faris) is a ‘giver’ who is always trying to please. She is a PA to an abusive boss whose requests are just taking the piss. Coco is ‘the angry one’: divorced and furious at her ex-husband Roger (Dominic Ona-Ariki) for shacking up with an older woman, Margaret (Diana Glenn) while she remains unhappy. This bickering spills over into the tug-of-war between them over their kids: “Mommy, why are you always so angry?”
- The rest of the story is really a one-note riff on Mel (Isla Fisher) doing zany things and generally creating havoc at the resort. The three friends roll their eyes when she arrives. I was rolling my eyes for the rest of the film.
- Some of the dialogue is in very dubious taste: “The last time I had a massage was my last mammogram”, for example.
- The film readily descends into slapstick that sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t.
- In a film with some dubious acting, the golden turd award really needs to go to Erika Heynatz as hotel manager Shanti. This leads to the trite side-stepping of legal issues to seem even more ridiculous than it is.
(* Not really my friend… I spent a day on set with her as an SA in 2021 for the series The Power. This was before she left the series and was recast with Toni Collette. So my work – and hers – never appeared on screen!)
Summary Thoughts:
The film is made by the same guys who created The Hangover and Bad Moms…. and it shows. This is really a female version of The Hangover at a spa instead of Vegas. It had a few chuckles, but I think this one was aimed at a demographic that I am not a part of. Having said that, at the time of writing it only has an IMDB score of 5.4, so perhaps even that demographic doesn’t exist.
Where to watch?
Trailer:
The trailer for the film is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9p7j3UvpEQQ.
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