Movie Review: Last Vegas
Last Vegas is a Hangover-esque movie for the older generation, and it has a great set of core actors in it to boot. Like The Hangover, the majority of the movie takes place in Las Vegas, and the cast is there for Michael Douglas's character's bachelor party - he's marrying a woman half his age.
The "Flatbush Four" grew up together in the Brooklyn area, but now are scattered to various parts of the country. Billy (Douglas) lives in California and decides to gather the Four in Vegas for his bachelor party before marrying a 30-something woman. Archie (Morgan Freeman) recently had a small stroke, and his family is very protective of him - he's going to have to sneak out of his house if he wants to get to Vegas. Sam (Kevin Kline) hasn't had much chemistry with his wife lately, and she encourages him to "have fun" while he's in Vegas, saying that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas and even giving him a condom. Paddy (Robert De Niro) has become a recluse after his wife, Sophie, died the year before, and the men are going to have to coerce him to go with them on the trip. Once they all arrive in the city, however, old rivalries once again rise to the surface, and issues must be worked out before the gang can get to celebrating.
The comedic scenes in this movie were hilarious. Some of them I had already seen in the trailer, but the majority were new to me. The core cast has great chemistry together, and it's great to see all of these legendary actors in the same movie; you can tell they had just as much fun filming it as we did watching it. Some of the more serious scenes tend to drag, but luckily the movie was mostly comprised of comedic moments.
Yes, see this movie, but I think it is going to appeal more to those of a "certain age." I thought it was better than the Hangover movies, but it did seem like older people enjoyed the film more - I went to the screening with my parents and they really liked it. It's a great movie to see for a matinee, but I wouldn't pay full-price for it, even though most of the comedy in the film was entertaining.
Last Vegas is in theaters today, November 1st, and is rated PG-13 with a runtime of 105 minutes. 3.5 stars out of 5.