Last Vegas
Last Vegas is a 2013 American comedy film directed by Jon Turteltaub, written by Dan Fogelman and starring Michael Douglas, Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Kline and Mary Steenburgen. Three retirees travel to Las Vegas to have a bachelor party for their last remaining single friend. The film was released to theaters on November 1, 2013, by CBS Films.
Plot
Four childhood friends from Brooklyn—Sam, Archie, Paddy and Billy—are now older. Sam and his wife Miriam live in Naples, Florida. Archie, a twice-divorced Vietnam veteran, lives in New Jersey. Paddy lives alone in his Brooklyn apartment, bitter since the death of his beloved wife Sophie. Billy is a successful entrepreneur in Malibu who lives with his 31-year-old girlfriend Lisa. Shortly after proposing to Lisa, Billy finds an old bottle of scotch that he and his friends stole in their childhood days and calls Sam and Archie, who immediately propose a bachelor party for Billy in Las Vegas. After being given permission by Miriam to have sex with someone else, Sam collects Archie, whose ongoing health issues cause his son to be concerned. They convince a reluctant Paddy to join them, and they fly to rendezvous with Billy in Las Vegas.Billy and Paddy get into a heated argument about Billy's failure to attend Sophie's funeral. They visit the Aria Resort and Casino, where the wedding will be held, and are attracted to the lounge by the singing of Diana. The five share a drink and convince Diana to join them for the festivities.
While awaiting their rooms, Archie goes to a blackjack table and buys $15,000 of chips with his pension money. When Paddy and Sam return, they find that Archie is ahead by $102,000. They quickly leave the table in fear of being accused of card counting. Billy tours the wedding chapel with Diana and becomes smitten with her.
The four men become judges of a swimsuit competition. They are confronted by the casino manager, who offers to compensate the group with his largest penthouse suite, with the hope that Archie will stay and spend his winnings at the hotel. Billy suggests that they open the old bottle of scotch to celebrate, but Paddy storms off. That night, the remaining three go to the hotel's nightclub, where they enjoy a night of drinking and dancing. Sam meets a young maid of honor from a bachelorette party who expresses her attraction for him.
The following day, while the others are recovering, Paddy visits Diana and tells her that he and Billy were both in love with Sophie when they were younger and that she had picked Paddy. Diana tries to convince him to stop grieving and move on with life because Sophie would want it. Paddy joins Billy at their pool cabana and admits that he needs to move on from Sophie's passing. He is also upset with Billy for marrying a woman whom he does not truly love. That night, Sam and Archie throw a massive bachelor party for Billy in their suite. They prepare for the party and invite several people, including a bachelorette party from the nightclub, exotic dancers, a band of drag queens, and cast members of Zarkana.
Billy visits Diana. She admits that she is fond of him, and asks if he truly loves Lisa. As they walk along The Strip, Billy tells Diana that Paddy gave Sophie an ultimatum to choose either Billy or him, and that she secretly chose Billy first, but Billy told Sophie that she was meant to be with Paddy.
Paddy tells Billy that he invited Diana to the party because he likes her and wants to start anew after Sophie's passing, but he realizes that Billy likes her too. When Diana arrives, Billy pushes Paddy into the pool and takes Diana upstairs to tell her to give Paddy a chance. She says that she feels like she is being treated like Sophie, and "gifted" by Billy to Paddy, which Paddy overhears. Paddy is devastated to learn this and throws the old bottle of scotch in the trash as he leaves the party. Meanwhile, Sam prepares to cheat on his wife with the young maid of honor but cannot bring himself to do it.
The next morning, Paddy confronts Billy at the pool. He informs Billy that no one can tell Sophie who to love, and that they shared a beautiful life together. He tells Billy to call off the wedding. As Lisa and her bridesmaids arrive, Paddy pushes Billy into the pool and tells Lisa that Billy is calling off the wedding.
Billy admits his fear of getting old and being alone. He goes to the lounge where Diana is singing and reveals his feelings for her. The guys decide to finally open the old bottle of scotch for a toast, but to their surprise, all but Paddy find the taste repulsive.
A few months later, Billy and Diana call Archie and Paddy to announce that they are getting married. They try to call Sam, but he is unable to answer the phone because he is being intimate with his wife.
Cast
- Michael Douglas as Billy Gerson
- Robert De Niro as Patrick "Paddy" Connors
- Morgan Freeman as Archibald "Archie" Clayton
- Kevin Kline as Sam Harris
- Mary Steenburgen as Diana Boyle
- Jerry Ferrara as Dean
- Romany Malco as Lonnie
- Roger Bart as Maurice
- Joanna Gleason as Miriam Harris
- Michael Ealy as Ezra Clayton
- Bre Blair as Lisa
- Ashley Spillers as Elizabeth
- April Billingsley as Bachelorette's Maid of Honor
- Andrea Moore as Bachelorette
- Lisa Young as Blackjack Dealer
- 50 Cent as himself
- Redfoo as himself
Production
Principal photography started in November 2012 in Las Vegas. At the end of November, filming moved to the Atlanta, Georgia, area.
Reception
Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 45% based on 142 reviews, with an average rating of 5.2/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "The cast of Last Vegas keep things amiably watchable, but the film is mostly a mellower Hangover retread for the older set." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 48 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on a scale of A+ to F.Scott Foundas of Variety wrote, "A smattering of funny gags and the nostalgia value of the cast—none of whom, curiously, have ever shared the screen before—keeps the whole thing more watchable than it has any right to be." Foundas calls the film a clone of The Hangover and praises Mary Steenburgen for her performance but says, "The rest of the movie rarely if ever rises to Steenburgen's level".
Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The A.V. Club gave the film a grade D− and wrote, "The high point of Last Vegas is also arguably the low point of Robert De Niro's career".