Review: Last Vegas

As we all know, age and time are two things that can come between even the closest of friends. It's not always personal with these factors being included, but life tends to get in the way with these two guaranteed aspects of our existence that may bring along significant others, kids and a great deal of responsibilities. I guess that's what separated the four friends in the film Last Vegas, but as they find out, friends can always find a way to get back together for at least one more party.

Back in their days as children growing up together in New York, Billy, Paddy, Archie and Sam (Michael Douglas, Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman and Kevin Kline) became a seemingly inseparable set of friends known as the "Flatbush 4," but life got to them like it gets to many of us. Over time, each guy from the group eventually went their separate ways and in to not so desirable existences in the eyes of most. There's nothing undesirable as far as legalities are concerned, but their lives could use a little more life.

You see, Sam is living the retired life at this moment in Florida with his wife Miriam (Joanna Gleason). He spends much of his day surrounded by people of the older generation as he probably continuously attempts to remember the good times of his youth where he used to put his pulse to good use around people who lived lives beyond exercising in a swimming pool. He's lost contact with himself and the world that he once knew and loved by being stuck here.

Meanwhile, his friend Archie isn't in a position that anyone would consider to be much better. He's stuck at his home in New Jersey playing a real-life version of role reversal with his son Ezra (Michael Ealy) being featured in the role of parent/caregiver for him. He can't do much these days due to his loving and excessively attentive offspring, and he's on the verge of exploding because of the frustration that his lack of activity is causing.

If there's anything positive that you can say about the lives of Sam and Archie is that at least they both have people who care about them. Their friend Paddy doesn't even have that. This native New Yorker who's spent all of his life there lives an existence of complete loneliness due to the passing of his wife a year earlier. The only partner/friend/associate that he seems to have in his life now is a bathrobe that seems to be a permanent part of his daily wardrobe.

As those three guys are living lives that anyone would dread, Billy on the other hand is living it up as the guy who never chose to have kids or get married. He's out in Los Angeles having a good time with a woman nearly half his age on his arm. He has no reason to ask for much these days, but he's starting to feel the need to feel what his longtime friends were able to feel many years ago when he decides that it's best to finally step up to the altar and jump that proverbial broom that many men try to avoid crossing.

So with that in mind, he calls up his old friends that he's known for about sixty years so they can get back together for one last party in Sin City. It's going to be a time to catch on some things, party, meet new people and experience things that they've either never felt before or haven't felt in a very long time. They have two days to do all of this, but that short period of time is going to do more than have them discover entertainment in Vegas. It's also going to get them to take a look at their friendship and answer plenty of questions.

Before actually seeing Last Vegas, I was thinking that it would either be a big hit or a very big miss. On the surface, it looks as if this movie had the makings of one or the other, and I was honestly interested in finding out which side of the spectrum it fell on. My interest level was simply because I was rooting for this movie to succeed and be extremely entertaining.

My feelings on the film after actually watching it doesn't fit either of what I expected beforehand. As it turns out, Last Vegas has its high points with a few points that I would describe as being somewhat average and below in many instances. That's something that makes the movie close to average overall, but I'd say that it's something that a significant number of viewers will find as entertaining and positive.

The comedy in Last Vegas is of good quality in many cases, but it also fails to deliver on a few occasions from my perspective. This goes without saying, but the comedy is an important feature within the entire film and to have it miss on more than a few occasions does hurt it in my opinion. However, it doesn't damage it completely and that may be enough for some viewers to fall in love with portions of the story.

Like most of the stories that we see in the world of American film these days, the story in this movie has love as one of its primary elements. I won't talk about it much, but I find it hard to have a budding romance being that important in a movie that's supposed to basically last for a couple of days. I guess it's something that movie makers feel they have to put in, even in circumstances that don't need them.

From that standpoint, the love story angle in Last Vegas also takes away from what could have been a fantastic experience. Last Vegas could have and should have been solely focused on the four guys running around Las Vegas and finding trouble to get themselves into without the element of love being installed. That would have been more entertaining and sensible than what we actually get to see.

I liked the idea of having four guys like this being together in a film, but I just wish they would have done more than put out a film with a ton of features that we've seen many times before. Doing so would have made things a bit fresher, but it would have also been a more entertaining experience for people like myself. It's not a great movie in my opinion, and I think the lack of originality and the inclusion of an unneeded love story really hampered it.

When I look at Last Vegas for what it is, I can see it as having a movie that develops a fan base that can and will like what they see. It's not for everyone, but I do believe that its target audience will be able to sit back and have a good laugh before going home and feeling good about what they just watched. Will it be good enough outside of that? No, it won't, but I don't think it has to be. It will be fun to watch for anyone who like movies like this.

Score: 2.5/5

Rating: PG-13

Director: Jon Turteltaub

Cast:
Michael Douglas
Robert De Niro
Morgan Freeman
Kevin Kline
Mary Steenburgen
Jay Ferrara
Romany Malco
Michael Ealy
Roger Bart

Film Length: 104 minutes

Release Date: November 1, 2013

Distributor: CBS Films

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