| Product: |
What Happens In Vegas... (DVD) |
| Date: |
22/06/08 (306 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Okay film, not terrible, some funny parts
Disadvantages: Nothing brilliant about it, not laugh a minute, no heart, not memorable
I wrote this a while back just after I saw this, it wasn't on dooyoo at the time so it's just been sat waiting around on my computer.
Given I've not had much time on here recently and I've no time to write a new review before I jet off again I thought I'd post this.
If I'd not wrote it at the time I could have never wrote this review, as I can't even remember this film now, only a few weeks later, which says a lot I think :)
See you all soon, I'll be back armed with oodles of Lush reviews and some fab new make up one xxxx
******************************************** *******
Joy and Jack, polar opposites, are both in Vegas escaping their troubles, get terribly drunk and the morning after sees not just the normal morning after regrets, but the horrible realisation that they got married the night before. In the midst of that even more awkward than normal morning after "dumping" chat, the slot machine they are at wins the jackpot $3 million. Suddenly the fact that "what's yours is ours" comes in handy but when trying to get their married annulled and the money split, the judge freezes the money and orders them to live as a married couple for six months before either can have any of the money, because he is sick of marriage being made a mockery of.
Jack and Joy are played by Ashton Kutcher (Just Married) and Cameron Diaz (The Sweetest Thing). They are pretty much as you would imagine, playing the same sort of characters as they have many times before. Whilst this means it's not exactly a stretch for either of them talent wise, it means that they were cast well for these roles. They are exactly as you'd expect if you've seen them in anything previously but this works well for the film and both perform good comedy roles. All the supporting roles are pretty much as you'd expect from a Hollywood comedy, there's no one noticeably bad that lets the side down but no outstanding performances are required. One role worth mentioning is that of the Judge, played by Dennis Miller (Joe Dirt) which although a relatively small role, has some of the funniest lines of the whole movie and genuinely did have me laughing out loud.
When we originally saw the trailer for this I felt it would be similar to The Break Up which I really enjoyed, whilst my boyfriend's initial comparison was that he expected it to be similar to Just Married (also starring Ashton Kutcher). The premise in a way draws similarities with both - in Just Married a newlywed couple are generally having a bit of a disaster of a relationship, whereas in The Break Up, the couple are being forced to live together when and deliberately making each others lives a misery. I liked both the previous mentioned films so expected to like this equally. What I would say is What Happens in Vegas doesn't quite measure up to the other two. It's funny at times but not as funny as the other two and it definitely lacks the heart of the other two films (I actually rooted for the couples in the other films and grew to care about them, whereas this couple I didn't really care).
Now from the trailer alone or even the general premise of the film it's safe to say you already know how this film is going to start, exactly what the mid section will be like, and exactly how it will end. There's no surprises here, it follows the formula to a tee but that is exactly what I expected going into it so I can't say I was disappointed as such by it.
Whilst this film was fairly enjoyable, for me a film like this, which there are so many of, has to either be hilariously funny or have something a little special about it for it to stick out in my mind. What Happens in Vegas doesn't have either. Sure there were moments that had me laughing out loud but they were few and far between, for most of the film the most that it raised was a smile and unfortunately it fell into that age old trap of using ALL the best bits in the trailer. This means three things: 1) on the trailer it looks very funny but 2) when you come to seeing the film you've already seen these bits loads of times and although they would have been funny had you not, they kind of lose their effect and 3) if you've seen the trailer you've seen the bits worth seeing and the film doesn't have a whole lot else to offer.
Like I mentioned before the "romance" aspect of the rom-com lacked heart. I was never expecting any great twists or surprises, I expected it to be all pretty formulaic but that formula is used to often because it works and sometimes it really does. Heck I've even cried at 50 First Dates and The Break Up, so whilst I wasn't expecting an outstanding love story like The Notebook for example, there was the possibility of it at least touching me on somewhat of a girly superficial level. Unfortunately it didn't. There were never really any "aww" moments that made me root for the couple or care about them in anyway. They were there to serve the jokes but the love side of it didn't really reach me very well.
I don't mean to come down too hard on it at all. It was a very predictable rom-com and I'm not saying that in a snooty looking down my nose at people that enjoy rom-coms way (I enjoy rom-coms amongst other things). What I'm saying is that when you are seeing a film like that you know what to expect but there are certain ones that stand out above the others and are either really funny or really sweet and unfortunately this was neither, it was a very bog standard attempt.
Whilst it wasn't boring, it wasn't a film that will stay with me, if I hadn't wrote this review now I probably wouldn't have been even able to remember anything about it to even give any opinion on it in a few weeks time. I probably wouldn't watch it again but if it was on television and someone else wanted to watch it I wouldn't be put out at the thought of having to watch it again. It was all just very "okay".
If you're into your rom-coms, a big fan of Ashton Kutcher or Cameron Diaz, or fancy just a bit of light entertainment and this is going free then by all means sit back and enjoy, just don't expect anything outstanding. There's nothing particularly negative to say about this one, but nothing that would have me recommending for anyone to rush out and see it either.
Summary: Un-memorable!
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