What Happens In Vegas

Review by Sean Lynch

With the Blockbuster season right around the corner (audiences are going to be spoiled in the next few months with The Incredible Hulk, Prince Caspian, Indiana Jones, The Dark Knight, Speed Racer on the way and Iron Man already setting the bench-mark) it's good to see that the light-hearted romantic comedy hasn't been forgotten about.

It's a clever bit of counter programming when you think about it, it's just a shame that the rom-com's aren't lifting their game like the big budget actioners are of late.

The latest here is, again, everything you'd expect and... well, that's it. It doesn't deliver expectations and more, but on the same token, it isn't delivering less (something which Made of Honour certainly did). 

This run-of-the-mill vehicle for Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher follows two strangers who awaken together in Vegas to discover they've gotten hitched following a night of drinking & gambling while in the infamous Sin City. Just get a divorce - no problems, right? 

Wrong!

Things soon get tricky when Kutcher strikes it rich on a pokie machine ($3 Million to be precise) after playing with Diaz's coin. In a race to get the $3M in divorce settlements (cue the Heather Mills gags everyone!), the newlyweds begin to devise ever escalating schemes to undermine each other in order to get their hands on the loot – only to find themselves falling in love amid the mutual backstabbing.

There are some good laughs to be had here, with Kutcher and Diaz playing perfectly off each other. But much like Kutcher's Just Married - Vegas is ultimately yet another fairly disposable Friday night distraction. Not that it's a problem, because it's money well spent if you're a fan of the genre - it's just at this stage of Kutcher and Diaz's careers, they really need to start delivering something a tad more memorable.

And if they don't deliver soon, their careers may soon go down the crapper (which, it seems, is exactly what happens when your Vegas husband steals the toilet seat from the bowl).

3 out of 5

What Happens In Vegas
Australian release: 8th May, 2008
Cast: Ashton Kutcher, Cameron Diaz, Queen Latifah, Krysten Ritter
Director: Tom Vaughan
Website: What Happens In Vegas