By Jae-Ha Kim
Amazon.com
May 9, 2008
What Happens in Vegas is a comedy waiting to happen.
It takes an old premise (drunk strangers regretting their decision to get married in Las Vegas) and adds in a dilemma (a $3 million slot machine win) that could’ve been easily resolved.
But then again, there would’ve been no movie if the unhappily wedded couple figured out that splitting the money in half and getting their marriage annulled would’ve been quick and effective.
Cameron Diaz plays uptight clean-freak Joy, who has just been dumped by her fiance.
Ashton Kutcher is Jack, a slacker furniture maker who has been fired–by his own dad.
Each goes to Vegas to let off some steam. And while they have nothing in common (except being exceptionally good looking) they make out, get married, and fight over the money Jack wins with Joy’s quarter.
Instead of letting the couple get divorced, a judge sentences the odd couple to half a year of marriage.
What happens in Vegas doesn’t stay in Vegas, but extends into New York where Jack and Joy live.
Both actors have fared well in comedies, especially Diaz in My Best Friend’s Wedding. And while Kutcher still has to live down Dude, Where’s My Car?, he showed a lot of comedic flair and charm in A Lot Like Love.
But the two face an uphill battle here with inane dialogue and a premise that not only is unbelievable, but unlikeable.
The two are so incompatible (and immature) they can’t even control bathroom time and, in Jack’s case, his bladder.
