What Happens in Vegas

Stars: Cameron Diaz, Ashton Kutcher, Rob Corddry, Dennis Miller, Lake Bell, Treat Williams

Director: Tom Vaughan

An utterly formula romcom, assembled from dozens of others, but still entertaining enough and kept afloat by its stars, Kutcher and (particularly) Diaz, who share enough chemistry to make the tired old situations work.

Cameron's a New York trader who gets dumped by a fiance who decides she's not good enough for him (this is really hard to believe), while's Ashton's a carpenter fired by his father. Both decide a trip to Vegas with a (same sex) friend is the cure for the blues and, after the parties are double-booked and re-assigned to penthouse suites, a wild night ensues.

Ash and Cam emerge married and, even as they head for an annulment the morning after, win the three million dollar jackpot on a slot machine. Alas, the remark of Ash's friend (Corddry) that 'What happens in Vegas...you pay for when you get home' comes home to roost when an unsympathetic judge (Miller) orders them to work at their marriage for the next six months.

Seemingly incompatible, they fight like cat and dog in slovenly Ashton's apartment - where peeing in the sink is not the least lovable of his habits - and make each other's life hell.

'The end,' says the company production notes, 'may provide the biggest surprise of all.' Well, actually, no, as any fan of romcoms will tell you. En route to the inevitable, there's a charming sequence at Cam's company's retreat, and a nothing role for Queen Latifah as the couple's marriage counsellor.

The breakup/makeup in the final sequence, though, is so archly contrived it fails completely to convince. Why would Cam be furious that Ash had given her fiance back his ring? Doesn't make sense. Before that, there are quite a few laughs and several more scenes during (and after) the credits. Fans of the stars should like it.

David Quinlan

USA 2008. UK Distributor: 20th Century Fox. Technicolor.
98 minutes. Widescreen. UK certificate: 12A.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 0, Violence/Horror 0, Drugs 0, Swearing 0.

Review date: 02 May 2008