What Happens in Vegas

What Happens in Vegas (Cameron Diaz, Ashton Kutcher, Dermot Mulroney) – Here is the set up: a man and a woman who don’t know each other get dumped and go to Vegas to forget their troubles and get a new start. They meet, have a drunken night, get married, go to bed together, and wake up realizing their mistake.  As they break up and decide to have the marriage annulled, she gives him a quarter; he puts it in a machine and hits a $3 million jackpot.  Who does the money belong to? The rest of the movie is just what you think it is … pretty awful.  The couple is ordered by the judge, played by Dennis Miller (the brother of one of the producers, Jimmy Miller), to live together for six months before deciding who gets the money.  You can imagine what happens next as well as the end of the movie.  In the middle is the fun of watching two beautiful people, Iowa’s own Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz, try to make this ridiculous premise work.  The film was reasonably successful at the box office, grossing about $85 million compared to its production price of about $25 million.  Neither of these actors is known for their range, but this is an easy genre for them.  It’s a traditional chick flick that provides nothing new.  But it is an easy way to waste an hour-and-a-half … with an emphasis on waste.