Film Reviews

What Happens in Vegas..

• Rating:
• Director: Tom Vaughn
• Starring: Ashton Kutcher, Cameron Diaz, Rob Corddry, Lake Bell
• Details: US / 95mins (15A)

Ready? Here goes: Fired from his father's furniture business, Jack (Kutcher) takes off for Vegas with his lawyer mate Hater (Corddry) for a night on the tiles. Through some mix-up at the desk, the two guys end up sharing a room with Joy (Diaz) and her man-hating friend Tipper (Bell). Unceremoniously dumped by her fiance, Joy is also in Vegas to let off steam; Jack and Joy hit it off, get drunk, get married and immediately regret it. Arguing the next morning, Jack uses Joy's quarter in the slots and wins three millions dollars. They go home and file for divorce, hoping that each will get their hands on the money alone. The judge, fed up of these Vegas marriages, freezes their jackpot money and sentences them to "six months hard marriage". The estranged couple move into Jack's crummy apartment and attempt to get on each other's nerves so the other will agree to hand over the entire winnings just to get out of the 'relationship'. Will they see that they really love each other? Phew. That was a lot, wasn't it? That's the opening half hour or so right there, and if writer Dana Fox (The Wedding Date) had put as much energy and breakneck pace into what followed, her romantic comedy would have been an out-and-out winner. The first half is The Odd Couple-meets-The Break Up, as zingy one-liners and bitchy comebacks are front-and-centre; but then the rom-com goes pear-shaped - the com dumped in favour of the rom in the blink of an eye. Gone are the gags and pranks in place of longing looks, fluttering eyelashes and grand amorous gestures in eveningwear and dazzling dresses. Shame, that. At the end of the day, though, What Happens In Vegas... is a decent enough date movie, which is all it wants to be.

Review by Gavin Burke