Last Vegas

Last Vegas

Rated PG-13 and Released in Grand Rapids 11/1/13

Reviewed 11/6/13 at Celebration North

with Gary, Aaron and Danelle

3 out of 5 Js in QUIET Rating System

While my last review for Ender's Game was meant for 12-year-old boys and Bad Grandpa for 21-year-old guys, this one hits the other end. While we all enjoyed it, the over 65 group might appreciate it the most with the mature, yet still talented, group of Robert DeNiro, Morgan Freeman, Michael Douglas, and Kevin Kline. We all four thought it was pretty humorous, especially early on. Although Danelle and I both thought it had the "never ending" sappy conclusion that could have been cut down. For the most part, we all thought Last Vegas was fun.

These four are childhood friends and rich guy Billy (Douglas) is about to get married to a babe half his age. He gets the other three on the phone to tell them the good news and they all decide to hit Las Vegas for "grandpa's" bachelor party. It was like Hangover meets Grumpy Old Men. They each have their own quarks. Playboy never-been-married Malibu Billy has street tough Paddy (DeNiro) holding a grudge against him that really needs to be dealt with. Then there is never boring Archie (Freeman) who will do anything to get of "jail" at his son's house. As his wife is dropping him off at the airport, Sam (Kline) gets permission to let it all out in Vegas and come back a new person. With Viagra in hand, he makes every attempt to do so. After arriving and shuffling around they happily land at the trendy casino hotel Aria. Instantly they meet lounge singer Diana (Mary Steenburgen), sparking a few of their interests, and she gets intermingled in the group. Their weekend from here is pretty predictable with all the typical aging jokes. Yes some are corny, but for the most part these four made us all crack up. Kline is the scene stealer and I wish they would have used Freeman more, as his character had the most zip. All the while, the wittiness of this film and some sentimental moments at the end make Last Vegas worthy of a trip.

QUIET Rating system: 3 Js

Quality: JJj

Understood story:  JJJj

Interest: JJJ

Entertainment:  JJj

Time:  JJJ