I know I already wrote about the movie “Couple’s Retreat” last week, but I love that movie so much I think it’s time to revisit it. This time let’s look at another couple, Joey and Lucy, played by Jon Favreau and Kristen Davis. They represent the high school sweethearts who married early, and regret not having their chance to “party it up.” They regularly cheat on each other and seem to be just waiting for their daughter to get to college before filing the divorce. It’s a marriage that is clearly going through some serious issues.
These issues are especially exposed towards the end of the movie when the couples end up on Eden East, the party crazy singles section of the island. Joey starts dancing with some young beautiful girls in bikinis, and Lucy is having a great time with a good looking guy with a six pack that could compete with The Situation! When Dave (Vince Vaughn) tries to convince Joey to stop messing around and find his wife Joey finally spills his guts out with a very open and honest quote…saying “You had your fun, I got married early, I never got to experience any of this.”
Joey and Lucy’s struggle is one that I can honestly say I’ve struggled with. Having joined the seminary right after high school, at times I find myself saying the same exact thing that Joey did in this movie. Sometimes I can’t help but think that I’ll never have my college years to just chill out and have fun. I can’t just head to dinner and a movie with a bunch of friends and get back home at 2 in the morning. I can’t ask a girl out on a date. Heck, I can’t even watch TV without wondering if I’m avoiding more important responsibilities. I can definitely relate to the frustrations that Joey and Lucy are going through in this movie.
Why then did Joey and Lucy marry so early in life? Why did I join the seminary so early in life? The answer can be found in this very movie. During the party scene towards the end of the movie when Lucy sees Dave and Ronnie so happy together, she gives them a look of jealousy and says “They’re so lucky.” Even though Lucy is struggling with having settled down so early, in that moment she shows that her heart won’t ever be fully satisfied by reliving those years of partying, but rather her heart really truly longs for love, true and heartfelt love which she sees in the marriage of Dave and Ronnie. In the same way, although at times I do wish I could have lived the life of a “regular college guy”, I know that the difficult and challenging life that I have chosen will bring me greater inner peace and joy than any number of late nights out with friends ever could. I am human so I will always struggle with this, but through the grace of God I know, and Joey and Lucy realize at the end of the movie, that skipping out on the best party years of life in pursuit of greater love will bring about great sacrifices/challenges, but will also bring about great love, true joy, and inner peace.
“Lord Jesus, you have blessed each and every one of us with a very personal relationship with you. You relate to each of us in a very personal, and therefore a very different, way. Help guide each of us to true love, to you, through the means that will be most beneficial for each of us. Help us to fight through the challenges that life presents to us in order to find your love.”
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