Last Vegas

Last Vegas, the latest movie from acclaimed director John Turteltaub, the man behind the box office smashing National Treasure movies brings to theaters a movie about life long friendships and all that comes along with it. The chemistry between the four elite actors was good but I felt the story needed more than what was given. Because of that, I feel Last Vegas has earned two and a half buckets of Killer Korn.











When you have a movie starring Kevin Kline, Michael Douglas, Robert DeNiro, and Morgan Freeman, you would hope they would be in a vehicle worthy of their abilities. While Last Vegas was entertaining at times, it certainly didn't capitalize on those four men prodigious talents in the slightest way. The crux of the story line dealt with the animosity between two of "The Flatbush Four",  Michael Douglas' Billy and Robert De Niro's Paddy. It all stemmed over a girl that the young boys both fancied and she wound up with Paddy. Paddy never forgave Billy for not attending her funeral and now Billy, according to Paddy has the temerity to want to get the four old friends together again for his impending nuptials.

Archie lies and breaks away from his over bearing and overly concerned son Ezra, played by Michael Ealy. Sam needs some time away from sunny southern Florida and all of it's retirees. He feels he's aging well before he should. They are two great supporting characters but they really have nothing to do in this movie, basically their performances are wasted. The main pulse of this movie centers around Billy and Paddy and their deep seeded issues. Billy is about to marry a woman half his age when he and Paddy fall for the same woman, Diana played by Mary Steenburgen. The two old friends go at it again for the majority of the movie until a secret is revealed and Paddy feels obligated to help Billy in a way that's not surprising at all.

The laughs are there, four old timers in the world of the young and pretty but it's not enough to carry this film across the finish line in first place. If anything, it's a distant third, and that's only based on the cast of the film. No way does a film with Freeman, De Niro, Kline, and Douglas not place in the top three, no matter how bad the film is. The score by Mark Mothersbaugh is a tad too Ocean's Eleven for me but it gives the movie a light feel, which is what I think the producers were aiming for in the first place. Last Vegas does not have staying power so if you are looking for something light, something that will make you chuckle, go see it now before it gets forced out of the theaters by the big winter movies that are looming on the horizon. I'll see you at the theater.