ReviewColumn's rating :

Aston Kutcher is back, dating yet another considerably older woman, this time on-screen. Cameron Diaz is his on-screen love interest in 'What Happens In Vegas (2008)', a romantic-comedy about two persons with absolutely different personalities meeting by chance in Las Vegas. Both have recently suffered personal setbacks – in Jack Fuller’s (Ashton Kutcher) case, he was fired by his father-boss from his construction firm while Joy McNally (Cameron Diaz) is seeking respite from her hectic working life and the traumatic experience of being scorned by her fiancé in front of all his friends.

Jack and Joy meet each other through a series of coincidences, and eventually they agree to go on a night of wild partying together with friends Jeffrey ‘Hater’ Lewis (Rob Corddry) and Toni ‘Tipper’ Saxson (Lake Bell). They ultimately wed, unknowingly, in a Vegas chapel in a drunken haze. The next morning, sober once more, the couple decided to split once they return to New York and reverse that impulsive wedding decision. An argument ensues and at which time Jack angrily slots in a quarter from Joy into a jackpot machine. To the shock of the both of them, Jack’s machine hits a $3 million jackpot.

They return to New York and meets in court to finally divorce after the shotgun wedding and to fight for possession of the $3 million. Contrary to each of their expectations, they meet a conservative judge with an old-fashioned, romantic belief about matrimony and instead of granting a divorce, the judge sentences the both of them to six months of ‘hard marriage’, freezing their prize money, forcing them to make the marriage work or face with losing the cash reward entirely. This is where the story really starts, as the audience is treated to Jack’s and Joy’s hilarious and ridiculous attempts at trying to undermine each other to snatch the prize money away from the other.

This is not a ground-breaking, creative and refreshing plot – in fact, it’s been used in numerous romantic comedies. While it’s nothing out of the ordinary, it is still a tried and tested recipe, and the choices of Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz have sparked life into this comedy. You will see them trying to outwit each other, often to hilarious effect. The stark contrast in lifestyles and personalities lead to many showdowns and heated confrontations and this produces several memorable moments in the movie. In the end, they find themselves falling for each other, helping each other out of the rut that they were stuck in. As mentioned, it was a predictable plot, but it is not an immediate disappointment.

That being said, I felt Aston Kutcher’s theatrics were exaggerated at times. His mannerisms and gesticulation were greatly exaggerated, giving the audience them impression of the movie being very ‘forced’ and unnatural. Cameron Diaz, on the other hand, was a gem. Despite the awkward pairing of the two, she manages to put in a very professional act and is a very accurate representation of the high-strung, worrisome workaholic Joy McNally.

Through the course of this show, there were a few moments of dry humour that really made me roll my eyes. What Happens In Vegas (2008) is far from being sophisticated, however, it is still a very entertaining chick-flick that might make you go smile and go ‘awwwww’ at the end.

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