What Happens in Vegas: Movie Review (2008)

Directed by Tom Vaughan, written by Dana Fox, 99 minutes, rated PG-13. 

Tom Vaughan’s romantic comedy “What Happens in Vegas” stars Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz as Jack and Joy, two good-looking New Yorkers who know nothing about each other when they meet while on vacation in Las Vegas, and who know only slightly more about each other when they return home as a not-so-happily married couple.

Here are a few critical things they learn about each other while in the loose, drunken arms of Sin City: neither can handle their booze, each looks hot after several shots, Joy is a powerhouse when it comes to sliding across a bar top, Jack is a funnel of good times.

Turns out that’s enough for marriage, particularly for these two desperate souls, each of whom was on the rebound before they left for Las Vegas.

Jack, for instance, was just fired from his job as a furniture-maker by his own father (Treat Williams), while Joy, a commodities trader, was publicly dumped by her fiance, who decided that he just wasn’t that into her. So, what better way to cap off a bad week than with a fantastic night out on the town that results in a quickie wedding?

Moreover, what better way to screw up your life than with the complications that ensue when Jack uses Joy’s money to unexpectedly win $3 million on a slot pull? Considering that Jack wins the jackpot the day after their impromptu wedding, that money now belongs to them, and--go figure--they’re willing to fight for their share of it, regardless of the cost.

From Dana Fox’s fizzy, formulaic script, “What Happens in Vegas” offers more smiles than big laughs, but it’s never short on charm and it gets points for not being the gross-out comedy the genre usually attracts. The movie bounces and maneuvers through a clutch of circumstances that only could happen in a movie, such as when Joy and Jack go to divorce court and the judge (Dennis Miller) sentences them to “six months of hard marriage.”

For them, this means moving in together and--at least on paper--actually giving their marriage a go. An underused Queen Latifah is the psychologist charged by the court to guide them through what married life is supposed to be about, even though each tries their best to destroy it--and each other--along the way.

Or, at least part of the way. Since nobody coming to this movie will be surprised at what eventually occurs between Joy and Jack, it’s to Kutcher and Diaz’s credit that they make this greased slope of silliness as light and as enjoyable as it is. They’re perfectly suited together, easily lifting a film that just as easily could have gone south without the right cast and chemistry.

Helping to that end are fine supporting turns Dennis Farina as Joy’s prickly boss, Dick Banger; Rob Corddry as Jack’s friend, Hater; and especially Lake Bell as Joy’s best friend, Tipper, who is so sour and dour, her grumbling wit consistently at the ready, that she could turn white walls black merely by entering a room.

In this movie, we’re all better for it.

Grade: B-