Movie Reviews
WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS (12A)
All's fair in love and war, especially when there is a three million dollar divorce settlement at stake.
What Happens In Vegas is a romantic comedy about two mismatched strangers who tie the knot in the gambling capital - under the influence of alcohol - then head for the courts, where underlying tensions spiral out of control.
The battle of the sexes becomes increasingly vitriolic, fanned by two so-called best friends who have serious anger management issues. Animosity between the reluctant newlyweds invariably kindles a spark of sexual attraction and this sweet yet slight confection totters awkwardly towards its syrupy, feelgood conclusion.
British director Tom Vaughan, who helmed Starter For Ten with James McAvoy, is blessed with sexy and adorable lead actors, who radiate energy and charm despite Dana Fox's poor script.
The opposites of goofy Ashton Kutcher and sophisticated Cameron Diaz do indeed attract. They win us over even if, ultimately, the film does not.
In Las Vegas, dreams come true but for Joy (Diaz) and Jack (Kutcher), the Nevada desert is the beginning of a nightmare.
She arrives on the strip with best friend Tipper (Bell), shortly after being publicly dumped. He arrives at the same time in Sin City with best buddy Hater (Corddry), to forget being sacked.
A shared night of debauchery leads to the chapel and Joy and Jack wake the next morning with more than just a hangover.
Just as they have finalised divorce plans, Jack wins the three million dollar jackpot on a slot machine using Joy's quarter. Needless to say, she wants half the winnings.
In court, Judge Whopper (Miller) hands down his verdict - "I am sentencing you both to six months hard marriage" - and he refers the feuding couple to psychiatrist Dr Twitchell (Latifah) for counselling.
What Happens In Vegas is predictable, but Kutcher and Diaz perform the pratfalls with gusto and look good together, compensating for a flood of greeting card sentimentality.
The remainder of the cast, including Corddry and Bell, are all two-dimensional slaves to the plot, nudging the lovers closer together or further apart.
The minute Joy reminisces about a lighthouse as her favourite place in the world, we know precisely where this manipulative slush will end up.
Comedy/Romance. Cameron Diaz, Ashton Kutcher, Rob Corddry, Lake Bell, Queen Latifah, Dennis Miller, Jason Sudeikis, Treat Williams, Deirdre O'Connell. Director: Tom Vaughan.
3:59pm Thursday 8th May 2008
Print 
Email this 
Comment
What are these links for?
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
More on Digg
More on del.icio.us
More on Furl
More on reddit
More on NowPublic/
More on Yahoo!
