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What Happens in Vegas...

Generally unfavorable reviews
Based on 31 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 39 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Comedy | Romance
Written by: Dana Fox
Directed by: Tom Vaughan
Release Date:
Theatrical: May 9, 2008
DVD: August 26, 2008
Running Time: 99 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: PG-13 for some sexual and crude content, and language, including a drug reference
Starring Cameron Diaz, Ashton Kutcher, Rob Corddry, Treat Williams, and Dennis Farina
For charismatic party guy Jack Fuller and buttoned-up commodities trader Joy McNally, a rowdy weekend coincidentally shared in Las Vegas should have, by all rights, ended up being little more than a random blur. That is, if these two vacationing New Yorkers didn't have a signed marriage license staring them in the face to shockingly remind them of the giant misstep they took while feeling no pain, Vegas style. Stacking the deck, not only did Jack and Joy tie the knot after tying one on, but later scored a mind-blowing 3 million bucks in a slot machine bonanza. Well, Jack won it, with Joy's quarter. At the machine she'd already been playing. Or was it the other way around? And whose loot is it, anyway? Therein lies the weird hand dealt this bickering duo, who take their predicament back to Manhattan only to be sentenced by the intractable Judge Whopper to "six months hard marriage." Despite the hapless protests of Jack's best friend and legal counsel Steve "Hater" Hader, Whopper refuses to grant Jack and Joy an annulment, freezes the prize booty, and forces the irresponsible couple to prove they have done everything humanly possible to make their impromptu marriage work. This includes cohabitation, weekly counseling sessions, and doing something the old-school Whopper believes Jack and Joy's "generation" hates to do: try. Otherwise, the judge guarantees, the 3 million bucks will stay caught up in a legal battle so long and expensive that no one but the lawyers will ever see a penny of it. Jack and Joy take the bait, only to find themselves locked in a hilarious, patience-testing, panty-twisting game of wild one-upmanship--may the best "pretend spouse" win. Can Jack and Joy survive their six months of "wedded bliss" without killing each other, and ultimately cash in for the big payoff? Or will the fiery sparks that ricochet between them actually ignite, turning a fake relationship into something real? In the end, What Happens in Vegas may prove the biggest surprise of all. (20th Century Fox)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Starter for Ten
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Travis Nichols
A first- or second-date flick, after which there can be some Cheesecake Factory and maybe a peck on the cheek, no harm done. What Happens in Vegas is pleasant enough for all of that (and it sidesteps all that "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" raunch).
Read Full Review >Washington Post Stephen Hunter
An exceedingly bright comedy that never makes you feel stupid for enjoying its brisk pacing, smart lines, sound construction and superb comic acting, not only from Ashton Kutcher but from Cameron Diaz and well-chosen No. 2 bananas Rob Corddry and Lake Bell.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
Kutcher, who gives his most energized performance to date, and Diaz, darting between the caustic and shrill, look as if they're warming up to groovy hate sex, not love, which may be why the film goes flat the moment it turns friendly.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
Their chemistry goes like this: He cleans up real nice; she dirties down with gusto.
Read Full Review >ReelViews James Berardinelli
Sadly, about the nicest thing I can say about What Happens in Vegas is that I didn't hate it - although I suppose that's something.
Read Full Review >Variety Joe Leydon
This two-seated star vehicle for top-billed Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz wrings a respectable number of laughs from a formulaic scenario about attracted-opposites who bicker and back-stab their way toward happily-ever-aftering.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Julia Wallace
The stars, despite having only a fraction of the charm and talent of classic sparring-but-meant-for-each-other duos, know how to mug for the camera and well up on cue, and somehow that turns out to be enough to carry this trifle.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Carina Chocano
Hokey and forced as it is, What Happens in Vegas eventually settles into a rhythm, maybe because Diaz and Kutcher actually look like they have fun together.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Connie Ogle
The overwhelming sensation of deja vu is exhausting and disorienting. You really HAVE seen it all before.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias
Complain all you want about the affable slobs in Judd Apatow comedies; at least they're not tools.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Ken Fox
Cameron Diaz is the ideal guy's gal and Ashton Kutcher is, well, a guy. Together, they're a zero.
Read Full Review >USA Today Claudia Puig
It's a story that feels familiar at best, hackneyed at worst, which is surprising and disappointing, as director Tom Vaughan also made last year's "Starter for 10," a charming British coming-of-age comedy.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell
After the initial charm wears off, the whole thing gets check-your-text-messages dull.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Mary Elizabeth Williams
As it is, it's too restrained, too often -- too eager to gallop toward postcard sunsets on the beach when tequila shooters and lap dances are what the moment calls for. You'd think the combination of Diaz, Kutcher and Vegas would be good for at least a little sexy, silly fun. But don't bet on it.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman
While Diaz and Kutcher make their clichéd characters as likable as possible, you can bet on this: Any movie named after an already-stale ad campaign isn't likely to gamble on the unexpected.
Read Full Review >Empire Ian Nathan
Bland enough to make millions as culture edges closer to oblivion.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips
The screenplay by Dana Fox (she was one of the rewriters of "27 Dresses") devolves into a series of humiliating pranks that always give the upper narrative hand to the male lead. Talk about depressing. I mean, that's what male screenwriters are for--to unfairly stack the deck against the female leads.
Read Full Review >New York Post Lou Lumenick
Laughs are few and far between in the innuendo-laden script attributed to Dana Fox, who's also responsible for the reprehensible "The Wedding Date."
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone Peter Travers
If you don't see where this is going, you've never seen a movie. Sorry it had to be this one.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen
What Happens in Vegas should damn well have stayed in Vegas.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer
What Happens in Vegas is not only annoying, it's also incompetent – a bad mix.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt
Only Diaz shows spark because the actress knows how to simultaneously play nice and be a nasty character, thereby gaining audience sympathy. Everyone else hits one note, and it isn't nice.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Peter Hartlaub
Who wants to spend a minute on the Strip with the chance that there might be people as annoying as the characters played by Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher walking around?
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow
The one actor I wanted more of was Williams, who imbues Jack's dad with a robust, sometimes domineering wiliness that suggests a real person. Of course, these silly, inept filmmakers probably cast him because he plays a good guy and his first name is Treat.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Wesley Morris
When it was over I felt vaguely embarrassed. I wasn't just leaving a movie theater. I was taking a walk of shame.
Read Full Review >Film Threat Pete Vonder Haar
If What Happens in Vegas... serves any purpose, it's to make me consider spending my gambling money in Reno or on a riverboat instead.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Kimberley Jones
If you're gonna hire one of the funniest American comedians working today – Zach Galifianakis – and shove him to the side of the frame, then frankly, you can take what happens in Vegas, keep it in Vegas, and keep the rest of the us out of it.
Read Full Review >Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
What Happens in Vegas... should have stayed in development -- forever. This ramshackle -- and occasionally repulsive -- farce doesn't even deliver on the minimal promise of its title; most of it takes place in Manhattan.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Manohla Dargis
Because its director, Tom Vaughan, brings nothing of interest to the movie, including filmmaking, there isn't anything to say other than to note its insulting ugliness and ineptitude.
Read Full Review >Time Richard Schickel
Worst-in-breed not only for this year, but very likely in living memory.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 6.3 (out of 10) based on 39 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Mike H. gave it a10:
All critics are complaining about cliche... why does a person buy a dvd? to watch the same movie that they like over and over again! so what's wrong with making a movie of the genre that many people like, except with different actors, a different storyline and different jokes!? Obviously the critics would have known what this movie was going to be about, and if they don't like the genre, then why the hell watch the movie and then criticize it for being exactly as it should be. Critics are so stupid it's beyond words... all they're looking for is a movie that makes absolutely no sense, so they can say that it is really smart and appear as if they're the only ones who understand it, thinking this will make them seem like the clever ones
Peter K. gave it a4:
Silly romantic movie that has a predictable conclusion, shallow acting and few genuine moments.
CARTER N. gave it a10:
I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this movie. Funniest and all around most enjoyable romantic comedy I have seen this year.
Chris gave it a7:
I usually live by Metacritic scores, but I didn't think it was that bad!!
Jay H. gave it a6:
Very predictable, but I found it very entertaining and funny as well. I enjoyed the characters and the chemistry between Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz. Good supporting cast. Light and enjoyable.
Darine S gave it a6:
it's supposed to be a light movie putting that in mind you'll never go under the influence of expecting too much...I did like it and there was something real about it... and of course ADORED Lake Bell's Part and Rob Corddry's too .. and the judge when talking bout his wife
Laura gave it a7:
The movie is just hilarious it's light hearted and entertains the audience. I definately recommend.
