This movie about four old friends (a sourpuss Robert DeNiro, a spry Morgan Freeman, a likable Kevin Kline, and Michael Douglas in smooth ladies man mode) getting together in Las Vegas for the bachelor party of Douglas’ character certainly knows what the older folks want to see. And knowing your demo is key to any movie’s success (I’m sure I was the youngest person in the audience).
What Works: This movie is cheesy, sometimes low energy (the first act really drags), and completely predictable. [Do you think a movie that will be driven by the business of older women will really let Douglas’ character marry a 30 year old woman?] And yet, somehow, someway, it won me over. The second act is particularly likable as the guys begin to finally start having a little fun. Although Douglas and DeNiro are the leads, I was surprised at the comedic chemistry Kline and Freeman had, and wouldn’t have necessarily minded seeing these two off an adventure of their own.
What Doesn’t Work: Do I really believe that DeNiro and Douglas would be fighting over a lounge singer played by Mary Steenburgen? Would she really be that captivating to an accomplished casanova like Douglas (her singing is mediocre at best, and she’s too generically drawn to have as good a personality as the movie keeps insisting she does, plus she’s got kids, an ex-husband, and baggage and lives in a different state) or is it just that the idea of a much older man marrying a younger woman is too unappealing to let happen? The movie tries to wring a lot of laughs out of Douglas marrying a “child bride,” but it’s the only thing these guys really do that could be considered remotely scandalous.
One thing I would love to see a movie, any movie about “guys having a wild time” do is actually let those guys truly indulge in some wild shit. [The Hangover movies were never as dangerous as they wanted to be either.] Part of the problem with the Steenburger scenario is that the whole movie feels just a little too safe and cozy. Will Kevin Kline’s married man (who’s been given a hall pass by his wife) actually use it? Even if a hot thirty year old is throwing herself at him? Even if she’s literally naked right in front of him? Yeah, well…if you already know the answer then you know the problem with the movie.
What I Would Have Done Differently: I get that this movie is supposed to be fun and not “too” fun, but I still would have loved to have seen things pushed wilder and further than they are. There’s some stuff right in the middle of the movie where the guys go to a nightclub or judge a bikini contest or have a wild hotel party, and I think this could have been pushed further and made the movie less of a “guilty pleasure” and more of a real one. Oh, and let Douglas marry the woman he’s probably compatible with: the thirty year old. [Some characters suggest the young woman only likes Douglas because he’s rich, but Steenburger’s character doesn’t like him on any deeper level either. She’s probably even less accomplished and well-off than the thirty year old.] DeNiro’s sourpuss could get more out of Steenburger anyway.