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While “Last Vegas” indeed spends scene after scene poking fun at its stars’ ages, don’t be fooled by the film’s tepid, off-putting, fogie-gag-filled trailer.
This lovely lark of a movie handily exceeds expectations, becoming more than something easily written off as “The Hangover” for men of a certain age, and proving a warm and funny and entry in the new wave of 55-plus cinema. To call a film “harmless” sounds like faint praise, but in this case, let’s consider it a smooth way of acknowledging that “Last Vegas” doesn’t merely play like a paycheck gig for its dazzling cast.
Headlined by four Oscar winners who are legends in their own right, the occasionally risqué comedy follows lifelong friends Billy (Michael Douglas), Paddy (Robert De Niro), Archie (Morgan Freeman) and Sam (Kevin Kline) as they rally together and hit Sin City to throw a bachelor party for Billy, who’s about to marry a bombshell young enough to be his granddaughter. Things get complicated when luminous lounge singer Diana (fellow Oscar winner Mary Steenburgen) enters the picture, and catches the eyes and hearts of Billy and Paddy.
“Last Vegas” may not be Oscar bait itself, but it lands nearly every joke in its cheeky script, including one in which a smart-mouthed punk is told the four men are mob bosses, and another that sees De Niro get face-humped by the Speedo-rocking frontman of LMFAO. The film is a major rebound for director Jon Turteltaub, whose last effort was the abysmal “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” but it shines brightest because of its stars, who are always steering it away from possible pitfalls.
Few actors have played drunk more amusingly than Freeman does amid a club scene, wherein Archie’s had a few too many Red Bull and vodkas, and Kline is a riot as a man whose longtime wife gives him a free pass to cheat. The inevitable outcome of this offer is primed for maudlin bunk, but Kline plays it with poignant truth before delivering another zinger. That’s “Last Vegas” in a nutshell: Big heart, big laughs, big fun.
Last Vegas
PG-13
Two-and-a-half-reels out of four
Opens tomorrow at area theaters
Recommended Rental
Passion
R
Available Tuesday
One of the best films of the year that no one’s bothered to tell you about, Brian De Palma’s “Passion,” a remake of the French thriller “Love Crime,” is a swoony, fever-dreamy delight, starring Rachel McAdams and Noomi Rapace as sparring co-workers with an odd attraction and a sea of intrigue to wade through. What’s real? What’s not? Who cares? De Palma’s hypnotic technique, paired with his game duo of leading ladies, leaves you intoxicated.
Contact the South Philly Review at editor@southphillyreview.com.
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