Surely it comes as no surprise that Last Vegas has been billed as The Hangover for the geriatric crowd: a lustful, booze-soaked, testosterone-fest for a quartet of elderly actors from 65 to 75 years of age, struggling to pull off a last hurrah both on screen and off. The saddest bit about the whole thing is that every single one of these actors deserves considerably better; the consolation is that there's still quite a bit of fun to be had from watching the foursome navigate their way through the lights, lust and life of Las Vegas.
Childhood friends Billy (Michael Douglas), Paddy (Robert De Niro), Archie (Morgan Freeman) and Sam (Kevin Kline) have grown up, grown old and grown apart. Separated by distance, failing health and - in the case of Billy and Paddy - a decades-long feud, the quartet reunite in Sin City for the most unlikely of reasons. Swinging bachelor and successful businessman Billy is finally getting married to a woman half his age (Bre Blair).
In our youth-worshipping culture, it's nice to see a film that places four old blokes and their concerns front and centre – but you'll almost certainly find yourself wishing that the script could have been stronger and tighter. What these four veteran actors have to contend with is a plot that requires them to leer at considerably younger women – the moment they buy their way into judging a swimsuit contest is particularly appalling and awkward – and toss around jokes about aging that themselves feel old and tired.
The sole joy of the film is derived from its four lead actors, who are so good at what they do that they manage to enliven even the most stereotypical of characters and situations. Douglas and De Niro handle their moments of dramatic rivalry with grace. The two bicker and push each other into pools with a verve the script doesn't deserve, and they both spark awake all the more when Diana (the lovely Mary Steenburgen), a lounge singer who reinvented herself late in life, catches their attention. Freeman and Kline, meanwhile, clown around amiably in the background, both somehow managing to squeeze a little emotion and depth out of poorly-written parts.
In that vein, Last Vegas passes the time in an inoffensive manner: it's not as egregiously bad as you might think, though it's a trifle more embarrassing for the four stars than their fans might like. Nevertheless, for a film that places notions of old age and death so firmly in the foreground, it's hard not to feel that the entire project – fun though it might have been – wastes the efforts of its stars, energies that could almost certainly have been better invested elsewhere.
Childhood friends Billy (Michael Douglas), Paddy (Robert De Niro), Archie (Morgan Freeman) and Sam (Kevin Kline) have grown up, grown old and grown apart. Separated by distance, failing health and - in the case of Billy and Paddy - a decades-long feud, the quartet reunite in Sin City for the most unlikely of reasons. Swinging bachelor and successful businessman Billy is finally getting married to a woman half his age (Bre Blair).
In our youth-worshipping culture, it's nice to see a film that places four old blokes and their concerns front and centre – but you'll almost certainly find yourself wishing that the script could have been stronger and tighter. What these four veteran actors have to contend with is a plot that requires them to leer at considerably younger women – the moment they buy their way into judging a swimsuit contest is particularly appalling and awkward – and toss around jokes about aging that themselves feel old and tired.
The sole joy of the film is derived from its four lead actors, who are so good at what they do that they manage to enliven even the most stereotypical of characters and situations. Douglas and De Niro handle their moments of dramatic rivalry with grace. The two bicker and push each other into pools with a verve the script doesn't deserve, and they both spark awake all the more when Diana (the lovely Mary Steenburgen), a lounge singer who reinvented herself late in life, catches their attention. Freeman and Kline, meanwhile, clown around amiably in the background, both somehow managing to squeeze a little emotion and depth out of poorly-written parts.
In that vein, Last Vegas passes the time in an inoffensive manner: it's not as egregiously bad as you might think, though it's a trifle more embarrassing for the four stars than their fans might like. Nevertheless, for a film that places notions of old age and death so firmly in the foreground, it's hard not to feel that the entire project – fun though it might have been – wastes the efforts of its stars, energies that could almost certainly have been better invested elsewhere.