Imagine The Hangover as a fantasy rather than a
nightmare, replace the young cast with an impressive ensemble of actors with
credits far too impressive to be sullied by this tripe, and you will have Last Vegas in a nutshell. This film may
have been passable with a less impressive cast, but the expectations are raised
too high with this ensemble and even the performances of their careers would
not have been able to save Dan Fogelman’s predictable screenplay.
As is always the
reason for getting an ensemble cast to Las Vegas ,
an unexpected engagement leads to a last-minute bachelor party in Sin City
Though the
predictable nature of the narrative is certainly an issue, the bigger problem
is how unbelievable all of the conflict is. The disagreement between Paddy and
Billy is petty, and that is the height of any conflict within the plot. The
rest of the film is dedicated to putting these aged actors in situations where
they can crack jokes about each other’s age while proving that they are forever
young. Gambling leads to a big win, an altercation with young guys at a dance
club ends up with them pretending to be mobsters, and their suite hosts a party
that is so big that even 50 Cent gets turned away. Nearly every development in
the film’s story is likely to inspire eye-rolling, even when the old-age jokes
are occasionally funny.
The Blu-ray
release includes a filmmaker commentary with Jon Turteltaub, who has built too
much of his recent filmography on safe studio duds such as this. There are also
three featurettes, all of which seem to be addressing the same thing; the four
actors in the lead roles. With “It’s Going to be Legendary,” “Four Legends,”
and “The Flatbush Four,” even the titling of the featurettes lack originality.
Entertainment Value:
6/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 5/10
Historical
Significance: 4/10
Disc Features: 4/10
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