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
Billy, Paddy, Archie, and Sam were childhood friends from Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York, who are now elderly. Sam and his wife Miriam live in Naples, Florida. Archie, twice-divorced, lives in Englewood, New Jersey. Paddy lives alone in his Brooklyn apartment, a since the death of his wife, Sophie, over a year ago. Billy is a successful entrepreneur in Malibu, California, who lives with his 31-year-old girlfriend Lisa. Shortly after proposing to Lisa, Billy finds an old bottle of scotch 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 cheat on her, Sam collects Archie and Paddy and they fly off to rendezvous with Billy in Vegas.Billy and Paddy get into a heated argument about Billy's failure to attend Sophie's funeral. They head to Binion's Gambling Hall and Hotel to check in, but the hotel is closed for renovations. They agree to try the Aria Resort and Casino where the wedding will be held, but are attracted to the lounge by the singing voice of Diana. The five share a drink, and they convince Diana to join them at the Aria.
While waiting to get rooms, Archie goes to a blackjack table. He buys chips with $15,000. When Paddy and Sam return, they find that Archie is up $102,000. They quickly leave the table in fear of being accused of card counting. Billy tours the wedding chapel with Diana, and becomes charmed with her.
The quartet later become judges of a swimsuit competition. They are then confronted by the casino manager, who offers the group his largest penthouse suite for free, in hopes that Archie will stay and spend his winnings at the hotel.
Billy suggests they open the old bottle of scotch to celebrate, but Paddy storms off. That night, the remaining three go to the hotel's nightclub. They drink too much and have a good time.
The next day, while the others are hungover and recovering, Paddy visits Diana and tells her that he and Billy were both in love with Sophie when they were younger and she 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 he needs to move on from Sophie's passing while also being upset with Billy for marrying a much younger woman. Sam and Archie decide to throw a big bachelor party for Billy in their suite that night. They prepare for the party and invite several people including a bachelorette group from the nightclub, exotic dancers, a band of transvestite entertainers, 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 she secretly chose Billy first, but Billy told Sophie that she was meant to be with Paddy.
The bachelor party goes into full force as Paddy gets ready to be social again, finally removing his wedding ring.
Paddy tells Billy he invited Diana to the party because he likes her and wants to start anew after Sophie's passing, but realizes Billy likes her too. When Diana arrives, Billy pushes Paddy into the decorative pool in the suite, and takes Diana upstairs to tell her that Paddy likes her and to give him a chance. She says 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.
The next morning, Paddy confronts Billy at the pool and tells him he does not love Lisa like Paddy loved Sophie, and that the wedding must be stopped. As Lisa and her bridesmaids arrive, Paddy pushes Billy into the pool and tells Lisa that Billy is calling off the wedding.
Billy and Lisa talk it out and Lisa leaves with her bridesmaids. As the guys pack up to leave, Billy comes to terms with his age and admits his fear of getting old and being alone. They come together as friends again, and tell Billy to go see Diana. Billy shows up at the lounge where Diana is singing and reveals his feelings for her. The guys finally decide to crack open the old bottle of scotch for a toast, however to their surprise, all but Paddy find the taste to be repulsive.
A couple months later, Billy and Diana call Archie and Paddy to announce they are getting married. They try to call Sam but he is unable to answer the phone as he is busy in bed with Miriam.
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
- April Billingsley as Bachelorette's Maid of Honor
- Andrea Moore as Bachelorette
- Redfoo as himself
- 50 Cent 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 has an approval rating of 46% based on reviews from 146 critics, with an average score of 5.18/10. The sites consensus states: "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 score of 48 out of 100, based on 34 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade A-, on a scale from 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."