What Happens in Vegas

Should have stayed in Vegas

DETAILS:
Released - 9 May 2008
Certificate - 12A
Running Time - 98mins
Director -Tom Vaughan
Screenwriter - Dana Fox
Producers -Michael Aguilar, Dean Georgaris, Shawn Levy
Cinematography - Matthew F. Leonetti
Editing - Matt Friedman
Music - Christophe Beck
Theatrical distributor - 20th Century Fox
Country - USA




SYNOPSIS:
After being fired from his job, Jack Fuller (Ashton Kutcher) decides to go on a trip to Vegas to forget about his troubles. Whilst there he bumps into Joy McNally (Cameron Diaz) who is also there to forget about her boyfriend who recently dumped her in front of all her friends. After a wild night of boozing and partying the couple wake up to find that in a alcohol fuelled act of idiocy they have married each other. But to confuse matters after Joy puts a quarter into a slot machine Jack pulls the lever to win $3 million. To resolve who is entitled to the money whilst applying for divorce a judge sentences the couple to live together for six months before he will let either party get their hands on the fortune.

REVIEW (My letter published in Sight and Sound magazine):
On a trip to my local cinema with a group of friends I was a tad unconvinced with a collective decision beyond my control to see What Happens in Vegas. But due to a more than positive review from Sight and Sound, the only publication to give every new film release a deep and thorough analysis without subduing to a brief star rating system, I kept my spirits high and ignored the various critical hounding I had read elsewhere.

Although one and a half hours later I was distraught that I had wasted the best part of five pounds on quite arguably the worst film of the year so far, let alone the summer. Obviously when I entered the screen I did not expect a film with any form of artistic license. But as a simple low key form of entertainment it failed on so many levels that it ruined our evening altogether.

What Davies’ review failed to address was the film’s sheer predictability. As soon as the characters were established you could see the awkward situations that would arise and subsequent happy ending a mile off. Also in no way was this 'chick-flick' fresh in its attempt to narrow the gap between male and female audiences. Jokes such as a couple living together disputing over a toilet seat is an observation that is overused in the genre. Davies was right to point out that this film will appeal to both sexes, but only in the sense that they will both agree in unison at the film’s lack of originality.

Aside from the obvious predictability it was simply a film I had great difficulty in empathising with. Never having visited Vegas myself or similarly being an extremely beautiful Hollywood A-lister with the confidence to drunkenly marry another one I still fail to see the film’s general engagement with mass audiences. All I saw was a pair of arrogant and image conscious former models playing themselves. As comic performers all they did was shout at each other and pull daft faces, which is a far cry from effective comic timing. As far as the sexual chemistry goes; if you want to see two people unashamed to reveal to audiences worldwide their sharply toned bodies which they constantly slave over to maintain, then go ahead.

What Happens in Vegas had the potential to question the drunken marriage culture in Vegas that has encompassed so many people including high profile celebrities, but in the end in just became a product of this cultural trend. Not a feel-good hit but a throwaway and mundane piece of tosh I hope Davies’ review was writhing with subtle sarcasm that I failed to pick upon.

Ben Lamb
Hull