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What Happens in Vegas
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray A - America - Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Pat Pilon (3rd October 2008). |
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The Film
 A guy Jack (Ashton Kutcher) gets fired, and decides to go to Vegas and get drunk. A girl Joy (Cameron Diaz) gets dumped by her fiancé and goes to Vegas to get drunk. Both of them wake up, together, married. The first 20 minutes is utterly unrealistic and is a completely movie contrivance, but is really well done and very good. After that, it goes kind of downhill. After deciding, in a heated debate, that they want to break up, Jack wins a jackpot at a slot machine with Joy's quarter, and after going to court over who gets how much money, the judge (an oddly out of place Dennis Miller) forces them to be together for the next six months and freezes the jackpot money. This movie contrivance is not as fun and not as interesting. The rest of the movie shows them being a couple and doing everything they can; on Jack's part, to break them up while not making it obvious, and on Joy's part, to be a nice wife and tolerating Jack while trying to make his life an annoyance. I did get some sort of giddy, childish enjoyment out of watching these two try to out-immature themselves, getting on each other's nerves. Unfortunately, this doesn't last too long, and we're on to the typical romantic comedy plot pretty quickly. The typical rom-com formula is followed to a T and I was able to look at the clock and guess when tired plot twists would come with pretty good accuracy. Now, there's nothing new in this movie, and watching things unfold in perfect timing is not boring but it could have been better. Rob Corddry plays Jack’s lawyer best friend and he has far too little screen time. He's the funniest thing in the movie and gives the movie the most comedy and life. By the same token, Joy's friend Tipper (Lake Bell) has virtually no screen time and is a complete hoot. Without them, the movie would have virtually no texture. Ashton Kutcher plays Kelso once more and Cameron Diaz plays the same perky blonde she always plays. In fact, the funniest line in the movie comes not from one of the main, or even supporting, characters, but from a minor character seen only in a few scenes (Zach Galifianakis), talking about a car, asking Jack about his driving abilities, 'Do you even know how to drive an automatic?' Finding a soulmate is always popular in Hollywood and makes the deed seem very, very easy. It plays upon the idealist and romantic sides of the audience, which isn't particularly hard to do. What is hard, however, is finding love. If finding love is as much fun as the first 20 minutes, then I'm all for it and I'll go out and party every night. However, if it's anything like the rest of the movie, then I think I'll pass.
Video
2.35:1 widescreen, using the MPEG4/AVC codec. The picture quality is very strong throughout the movie. The compression is very strong, showing no problems at all. The colours are all strong and bright, with black levels being strong and consistent. Skin tones have the correct hues, as well. The picture is a little bit soft to what high-definition is capable of doing, but this isn't a bit problem, as the movie never intends to be demo material. The transfer does, however, give an accurate representation of what the movie should be.
Audio
An English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 is the main track. French and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks are also available. The audio is nothing special – the movie isn't too active, but the lossless track has absolutely no problem handling what's given to it. A lot of the movie is dialogue between Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz, and there's no problem understanding any of the dialogue. The score and other music come about loud and clear, booming out the speakers when it has to or being light and emotional when it has to. The rear speakers are pretty much forgotten with the exception of a few scenes. It's nothing special but the track conveys what it has to. English, Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin and Korean subtitles are provided.
Extras
To start off with, you can listen to the audio commentary with director Tom Vaughn and editor Matt Friedman. This track is a bit dull throughout. The two can't seem to muster up any kind of enthusiasm for their movie, though they do talk throughout. They point out various scenes and talk about why there are, at times, continuity errors, and how (and why) they fixed the mistakes or not. They talk a lot about locations and the limitations of shooting in those spots. They also discuss the actors, the characters, the editing, the music and a few other things. They talk pretty much throughout the track, but this is only for fans of the movie. In the way I was watching he disc (the menu is kind of funny), the first thing I watched was the Gag Reel (5:10). It has some pretty funny moments. Some of the one-liners from Dennis Miller are pretty funny, and Cameron Diaz keeps cracking up, which is pretty funny to watch. This is worth watching, as are most gag reels. It's the the funniest reel I've seen but it provides some good laughs. Six Deleted and Extended Scenes are next. They don't add too much but they're fun to watch on their own. The gags are in line with the movie and don't really extended the humour all that much. They only reiterate what's already in the movie, or explain bridges in logic that don't need explaining. The scenes are: 'At the Bar' (3:09), 'We All Did' (0:41), 'The Party – Extended' (1:11), 'The Park Chase – Extended' (0:45), 'The Message' (1:09) and 'Missing Joy' (1:19). A few gag extras follow. From the Law Firm of Stephen J. Hader, Esq. (2:12) is pretty funny. It's Rob Corddry's lawyer character's commercial for his law firm. It's got some really funny moments, and anybody that has watched any number of court shows (such as 'Judge Judy' or 'The People's Court') knows the kind of gags to expect. DVD Extra Time with Zach Galifianakis (8:20) is also pretty funny. It's Mr. Galifianakis interviewing the director. He asks random questions, confusing the director, who keeps answering as best he can. It has its moments but I wouldn't watch it again. Sitting Down with Cameron and Ashton (8:26) is just as it says, with the two actors sitting on a couch talking to each otehr. It seems pretty fake, but kind of fun. They talk about guys and girls and relationships. They talk about meeting people and bars and things of the sort. They seem to have a nice time chatting together. An Inside Look at "Marley and Me" (0:51) is just a fancy name for 'trailer'. It's nothing special. In addition, there are a few Start-Up Trailers for digital copies (1:03) and for 'Meet Dave' (2:01). Fox added a High-Definition Exclusive Extra, though it's simply a party gimmick game. Bottom’s Up! An Intoxicating Vegas Experience is a running 'I've Never...' game playing during the movie. Perhaps the producers thought the movie was more fun if the viewers were completely sloshed, and decided to help them out by adding this extra here. The extra even prompts you to play along with your friends in between I've nevers in the movie. The problem is that there aren't too much I've nevers and you have to provide your own entertainment.
Overall
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