Ashton Kutcher gets lucky in “Vegas”
What Happens in Vegas is that Ashton Kutcher beats the spread.
What are the odds? Two strangers, in Sin City to forget their miserable lives, wake-up married to each other and while negotiating a break-up hit the Megabucks slot machine for $3 million. Even in Las Vegas, that’s a long shot, but Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher parlay this predictable film into the date flick of the year (so far, anyway).
When haggling over the disposition of their windfall lands them in court, a judge freezes the money and sentences them to “six months hard marriage.” Try as they do to get the relationship to fail they fall for each other.
Overall, the humor is not for the refined palate--more “Roseanne” crass than “Seinfeld” smart--though there are some very funny laugh-$6-Pepsi-out-of-your-nose moments like the wedding chapel flashback.
Dennis Miller is underutilized and Queen Latifah is out of place. But Kutcher, who stared in MTV’s Punk’d and the Academy Award winning Dude, Where's My Car? (“Best Catering,” I think it was) is the real jackpot. He carries the film and it’s a sure bet no one will call him just Demi’s Moore’s son anymore.
2 Honks
Did you mean, "no one will call him just Demi Mooore's boyfriend anymore"? Seems like a couple typos might have slipped through.
Posted by: Scott | May 28, 2008 at 08:30 AM
Read this and all my reviews on www.minnesotamoviefreak.com.
Ashton Kutcher made his bones in Hollywood on That 70's Show. I am still a fan of his work in that show and have watched him, through duds like The Guardian and Guess Who continue to play the same character over and over again. He has had flashes of talent, as seen in 2004's The Butterfly Effect, but nothing since. Seemingly content with taking on roles that have all the challenge of stealing candy from a baby, Kutcher appears to be going down a path of mediocrity. This film showcases his comedic talents in a few scenes, but nothing pushes him further up the ladder.
I have nothing against actresses who use their looks to jump ahead in this business. However, I don't think anyone would argue that Cameron's cute laugh and good looks are pretty much the heart and soul of her resume. Academy Award winner she will probably never be. At this point it has been 14 years since that clip in The Mask and Cameron has taken a serious downturn in the looks department. Her face is full of collagen, her skin is insanely over-tanned and wrinkles are already starting to show on a 36 year old that looks like she is easily into her 40s. Beautiful characters don't consume the bulk of a movie, but are an important factor in a romantic comedy. When lines are uttered in the movie like "she's so hot!", I need to at least see it and with Diaz I don't any longer.
The acting by Kutcher is adequate, but nothing special and Diaz pulls off her normal dry performance. The script is absolutely awful in this, with some of the comedic moments not making any sense at all. Cameos by Dennis Miller as the judge and Queen Latifah as the marriage counselor are underwritten and overplayed. The only thing keeping this from failing is Rob Corddry. Daily Show fans know him well and Corddry does a good job at comedic delivery. This is an overdone, overpromoted piece of garbage.
Posted by: Scott | May 28, 2008 at 09:12 AM
Forgot the rating... D-
Posted by: Scott | May 28, 2008 at 09:13 AM
Actually he’s Demi’s husband, but I *did* mean to say “son.” Jokes like that are what she gets for robbing the cradle … Regrets that the reference was too inside.
Posted by: Chris Miksanek | May 28, 2008 at 06:04 PM
cradle robbing for sure, but if you're like me you'll always see her at her hottest in the 80s films of past. We who call it cradle robbing are just jealous :).
Posted by: Scott | June 02, 2008 at 11:03 AM
all around, in real life Kutcher seems to be savvier than most Hollywood folk
Posted by: patrick | June 05, 2008 at 10:44 AM