OK, so here's the gist. I liked the movie. As you will see below, I'd rate the movie a 6 out of 10 (except that I'm posting pictures in place of actual numbers, so it'll be something like six fingered hand). It was pretty funny and quite enjoyable. Sure, it got to the point where so many things were going wrong that you wondered why they wouldn't just be in constant misery and constantly trying to solve everything at once, but the mystery that gives the film its structure holds up well enough that you remain intrigued throughout.
Here's my problem with it:
This was a terrible weekend. Just about everything went wrong, people got shot, the groom was feared dead, a tiger was kidnapped and then had to be sedated and dealt with, someone was kidnapped, someone gets married to a stripper in a drunken stupor... THIS IS NOT SOMETHING I'D LIKE TO REMEMBER AT ALL.
So what happens at the end? Everything is neatly tidied up. The groom is found, he gets happily married to a wife that forgives them for scaring the crap out of her, the father of the bride dismisses the fact that his car was destroyed simply because he realizes that "it's Vegas", they find out that they're $80,000 richer, one guy gets out of his abusive relationship and tries to begin anew with the stripper he married, and so on.
This is all bulls***. Complete bulls***.
It glorifies the "whatever happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" mentality, and pretty much says that drunken debauchery is OK, cause you gotta let loose every once in a while. Which is true to an extent, but not if you go wild to the point of excess. As I sat watching the film, I felt there was an underlying emptiness surrounding the entire night. These guys, not even knowing what the heck they did, wake up to see that they are in all sorts of trouble. Sure, it's played to comedic effect, but it's also kind of sad. So it demanded a certain type of ending... even if you had to find the groom and get him back in time to be married, you can make it clear that the night out has created a rift between bride and groom, one that might not be repaired, you can make it clear that the other participants are worse off for the wear... you can make it fit within the mainstream audience's expectations that they end up surviving, but resist giving them a neatly wrapped bow.
So basically, I was just pissed at the end. And I began to imagine how all the frat boys are going to watch this and begin to plan their own Hangover-esque bachelor parties/Vegas trips, and then get in a crap load of trouble when they do something stupid and the excuse of "it's Vegas" does nothing to help them. I'm probably taking this too seriously. Of course no one is going to be inspired by the film to steal a tiger or anything. But I think it encourages debauchery, which I don't particularly find to be really all that cool. But maybe I'm alone on this one.
RATING:
Although really leaning towards 5. Maybe even a 4. I'm assuming the funny moments derived from the film will vanish from memory, and the bad taste will linger, so in like a year, it's probably a 4.
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