by Joseph Rossi
If I want to see four old timers have a ball chasing skirts and acting like teenage goofs I’ll go visit my father in law at his nursing home.
Capitalizing on the success of the Hangover films and using clichés from every fish out of water story ever told, Last Vegas is about as fun as a trip to the dentist. It centers on childhood best buddies Paddy (Robert DeNiro), Archie (Morgan Freeman) and Sam (Kevin Kline) getting together for a bachelor party for Billy (Michael Douglas). Now having four of the greatest actors of the last 30 years in one movie has me thinking that this might be at the very least watchable. It is sort of watchable — in that if I catch it on TV for free kind of way.
The plot is paper thin and anyone with half a brain will know the outcome by the end of the opening credits. There will lessons learned, emotional speeches given and the possibility of a tear or two. That’s not enough people. Not this time. Not for me anyways. No chances are taken with this material. I’m not expecting a masterpiece but at least throw in some originality into the pot. I’m a softie; I can enjoy fluff once in a while. But I’ve seen this before — many times.
The problem for me is that these guys seem to be in on the joke. They are being paid to do what they always do and laughing it up, enjoying the free trip to sin city. Douglas is the slick ladies’ man, DeNiro is the tough guy, Freeman is stoic and Kline is the bumbling one. What range. We also get the typical buddy comedy archetypes such as the old bachelor, the widower, a divorcee and the long married man. It’s like connect the dots or paint by numbers.
These actors were all, once upon a time, known for taking chances. Right now I’d rather watch Taxi Driver, Seven, A Fish Called Wanda and Wall Street. But I guess with age comes a time to mellow out and relax. Nothing seems to relax serious actors more than spending a weekend in Vegas.
