The best thing, worst thing, and main thing about “Last Vegas’ in about the time it takes to watch the trailer.
REVIEW TEXT:
The question you have to ask yourself is, are you making a movie about old people or a movie for old people?
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“Last Vegas” stars the fearsome foursome of Kevin Kline, Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman, and Michael Douglas as four friends from childhood who take a trip to Vegas for a bachelor party 60 years after their friendship began. So what happens when the youth and energy of Vegas collides with the cautions of growing old? Well, apparently it’s a lot like the Hangover with more gray hair and Viagra jokes.
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The truth is “Last Vegas” isn’t all that bad. I mean, I didn’t love it but there were certainly some things I enjoyed. The best of which has to be our leading men. Kline, Freeman, Douglas, and De Niro are not only really good as these characters, but they really do have a great chemistry on screen. These are all great actors and you can tell they are having a wonderful time. They are also given some really good material to work with. The writing in this is quick witted and clever and the cast is suited for the humor that results. Even Mary Steenburgen who enters the scene as a Vegas lounge singer, and possible love interest, gets in on the laughs. Though I found her role beyond that to be a little bit dull and forced by plot rather than a sense of reality.
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Which leads me to the worst thing about the movie. The emotion just doesn’t quite land most of the time. It’s not as if the plot isn’t well structured or the messages aren’t poignant, I think it’s just that the slow pacing makes it difficult for the heart to find much traction. I feel like if the movie had just been edited more efficiently the laughs and tears would have landed in turn with more effect. As it is it squanders a lot of high octane potential with a shuffle along pace. Of course, maybe this is an intentional play to an older audience who will find it more to their own speed and style. Is that ageism? Am I an Ageist? Old people are generally slow right? Let’s move on… quickly.
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At the end of the day, Last Vegas is an enjoyable enough film with four amazing actors who play off each other well even if the overall product feels a bit slow and ineffective. I think it retires with a B-.
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