"Last Vegas" at Durham Library Thursday

Movie Notes by Don Bourret

So what do we have here? Four lifelong buddies originally from Brooklyn – the “Flatbush Four” – spend a weekend in Las Vegas, whooping it up in the fleshpots and basking in all its gals, glitz and glamor. Been there, seen that? Another chapter in the Hangover franchise? Another episode in HBO’s Entourage series? Not exactly. The difference here is that the cumulative age of its four stars is close to 300 years. These are old dudes.

What do they have in common? All are Oscar winners: Michael Douglas (Wall Street); Robert De Niro (Raging Bull); Morgan Freeman (Million Dollar Baby); Kevin Kline (A Fish Called Wanda). What don’t they have in common? Working together. Despite well over a hundred years collectively of working in films, neither had worked with any of the others previously.

This is a fun movie, very watchable, if a bit too complicated at times for its own good. The catalyst for the trip is that Billy (Douglas) is getting married to a woman less that half his age (Really!?!), and he wants his old buddies there in Vegas to share the joy. But they all have their own plights. Archie (Freeman) has health problems. Sam (Kline) is going through marriage blahs. Paddy (De Niro) is mourning the loss of his wife and resents Billy for not attending the funeral. Most of the aging issues are covered, and it’s up to Vegas to provide some healing balm. Being recruited to judge a swimsuit contest helped a lot..

The film took a lot of hits from critics, and its box office was just so-so. The gist of the criticism seemed to be that these esteemed award-winning actors demeaned themselves by accepting less-sophisticated roles and pandering to popular (read lowbrow) tastes. (Although it’s hard to imagine a more outrageous and manic character than Kline’s Otto in Wanda.) For my part, I was happy to see men of a certain age working and to have some light flashed, if only superficially, on old-guy as well as old-gal issues. Adding some commotion and wrapping it up in tinsel and sparkle just added to the fun.

What did the stars say about it? AARP magazine featured a group interview when the film was released last year. By their own reports, they had a ball. They all relished the opportunity to work finally with men they had admired for decades. They all were long past the age of ego trips and were grateful to play in a great sandbox with professional peers who upped each other’s game. And for them, Las Vegas was the sandbox to beat all: the casinos, the clubs, the swimming pools, the hardbodies, the hurly burly and the hubbub, it’s all there, lavishly presented.

It comes across that they had a grand time making the film, and you should have one too.