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What Happens in Vegas doesn’t hit the jackpot
Friday September 5 2008
Peter Muhvic REWIND
 
What Happens in Vegas
**1/2 out of ****

What Happen in Vegas is both a surprise and a disappointment. A surprise because the movie sounds like it’s devoid of laughs and it isn’t, and a disappointment because once expectations are raised the film can’t keep pace.
The film has one of those silly plots that can only happen in movieland, where it’s best to shake your head and just go with it if possible. Jack (Ashton Kutcher) is a free spirit who’s too scared to really put anything on the line. Joy (Cameron Diaz) is a stockbroker who’s constantly told she’s too uptight and no fun. After both get emotionally gut-punched, a trip to Vegas seems like a good first step to recovery.
The two strangers hook up for a night on the town that involves an immediately regretted drunken wedding. But before they can divorce, Jack puts Joy’s quarter into a slot machine and hits a $3 million jackpot.
The simple answer would be to split the dough and divorce, but because this is a ludicrous romantic comedy the two are required by law to give marriage an honest shot for six months before the money can be touched.
The resulting arrangement strains to put the two leads through as many arguments as possible.
The absurd setup wants to be playful, but instead it hits a real false note and cancels out any of the surprising humour the film demonstrates.
The movie’s throwaway jokes often connect, and Rob Corddry, who plays Jack’s moron friend, is hilarious. He saves a lot of scenes.
What Happens in Vegas makes out better than it should, even if it’s no winner.