Honeymoon in Vegas

Jack Singer (Nicolas Cage) is a private investigator dealing with many broken relationships. He promised his mother on her deathbed never to get married. His 2nd grade teacher girlfriend Betsy Nolan (Sarah Jessica Parker) pressures him into marrying her. They go to Vegas where she catches the eye of hard gambler Tommy Korman (James Caan). She reminds him of his wife Donna. Tommy wins $65k from Jack in a rigged poker game. Tommy gets Donna to spend a weekend in exchange for erasing the debt.

This is all Jack's fault. Tommy is a shark but Jack is the one who took Tommy's money instead of walking away. It would be better for the story if both Jack and Betsy are at the game. Also it would be better if Jack borrows the money only after getting the hand. After the setup, the chase has a few fun moments. A manic Cage is always interesting. Caan is terrific as a tough guy. The start is a little wonky but Sarah Jessica Parker yelling that he made her into a whore is pretty funny. There are some sporadic laughs.

As an Elvis fanatic, this movie is a necessity. Its possible it contains the word "Elvis" more than any other mainstream movie. The impersonators of every nationality, the Flying Elvises at the climax and, as user 'lawndale' pointed out, the soundtrack is one of the best.

Aside from the King, there is still a very funny movie here. Cage was doing small comedies at the time ("Guarding Tess" and "It Could Happen to You" are two of them), and this fits in with those other light entertainments, as far as that goes. He does 'frustrated' comedy pretty well; Ben Stiller would have been in this if it were made today, since he seems to be the new 'victim' in today's comedies. All the comedy is totally dependent on Cage's performance, and he delivers in ways I would not have thought possible. His next trip to Vegas (in "Leaving Las Vegas")should have been as much fun.

This is a fun enough little movie to watch but for a comedy it certainly still isn't quite funny enough.

It's a bit of a lacking movie but nevertheless it's still one that flows well with its story and has some good characters in it as well. It just seems as if they forgot to put some more great jokes and comedy in the movie, which seems amazing from the guy who also thought up the story for "Blazing Saddles". But then again, he also did "Striptease" and the remake of "The In-Laws". I'm talking about Andrew Bergman here, who wrote and directed this movie and just doesn't seem to quite have the right skills and qualities for the genre. I mean, he can definitely write and tell a good story and he can handle some decent characters but he just can't quite seem to get a grip on the right tone and style for a comedy. The movie does have some fun and crazy moments in it but even when watching these moments you'll have the idea and feeling that if they had pushed it a bit further all this movie could had truly been hilarious. In this particular case it probably wouldn't had harmed the movie if they went a bit over-the-top with it all.

Nevertheless, it still really is a perfectly watchable movie that doesn't really ever bore and you'll simply have a good time watching it. It is still a movie with more hits than misses in it. Those hits just aren't very hard however.

It's of course also really a movie that gets made interesting by its cast. When you have a cast with Nicolas Cage, Sarah Jessica Parker, James Caan and a strong supporting cast as well, you are of course quite blessed as a film-maker. Even though the genre isn't their strongest point (with the exception of Sarah Jessica Parker perhaps), they still make the movie a good watch with their performances.

A good enough movie to watch, though just nothing too impressive or memorable.

6/10

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Honeymoon in Vegas is a charming little romantic comedy directed by Andrew Bergman, which sees him working with Nicolas Cage for the first time. Two years later would seem them collaborate once more with "It Could Happen To You", a film that is equally as funny and equally as under-appreciated. The pair work really well together as Bergman's style of comedy utilises what makes Cage such a good actor, his ability to portray anxiety in a way that makes you laugh and yet still be fully sympathetic with his plight.

In a pretty high concept plot, Cage plays a private detective, haunted with dreams of his dead mother, who is in a long term relationship with a teacher played by Sarah Jessica Parker but is afraid to tie the knot. Relationship troubles persuade Cage to take the plunge, deciding to head off to Vegas to get married as fast as possible before he is able to change his mind. The comedy really kicks in when James Caan's character, a wealthy professional gambler, spots Cage's fiancée and decides to pursue her himself using the most underhand of tactics as she looks similar to his recently deceased wife.

Granted, the premise might not be the most edgy or original of ones but it consistently manages to serve up some really funny moments. Towards the end it starts to slightly go off the boil with James Caan's character seeming to change in a way that seems geared to reach a resolution rather than unfold naturally. This problem only really briefly manifests itself in places throughout the last fifteen minutes of the film, but can't really detract from the heartwarming climax involving a planeload of skydiving Elvises.

If you are looking for a goofy comedy to watch that you don't need to think about a great deal then you'll not do much better than Honeymoon in Vegas. If you are still not convinced then watch it because Sarah Jessica Parker spends a lot of the time scantily clad, and this is before she looked like some genetic engineering atrocity where the DNA of a horse was spliced with a prune.

Writer/director Andrew Bergman offers a humorous take on romance and the consequences of procrastinating when it comes to commitment, in `Honeymoon In Vegas,' a comedy of love, loyalty, longing and an airplane filled with skydiving Elvis impersonators. Nicolas Cage stars as Jack Singer, a guy in love but hampered by a promise he may or may not have made to his mother, Bea (Anne Bancroft), on her deathbed, which causes him to drag his heels on the path to the altar. When he finally manages a breakthrough, he spirits his girl, Betsy (Sarah Jessica Parker), off to Las Vegas with the intention of tying the knot once and for all. But before the plan can come to fruition, enter professional gambler (and widower) Tommy Korman (James Caan), who spots Betsy in the lobby of a hotel. what follows involves something of a twist in plot, but suffice to say, Jack is about to face a personal baptism by fire. And Betsy may be the flame, but Korman is the flint. It's an amusing comedy that never gets too deep beneath the surface or purports to be anything but what it is, though the plot does dip in to a bit of a gray area, morally speaking. The performances are good all around, though nothing here is anything approaching a stretch for any of the principals involved. Cage conveys the angst of his situation with aplomb, and employs that hang-dog look he does so well to great effect while his emotions implode. Parker looks fetching and makes a credible character of Betsy, but even though the action revolves around her there is not a whole lot for her to sink her teeth into with this part. But to her credit she handles what she is given to work with convincingly enough. Caan looks every bit the part of Korman; in fact, to put this part over he had little more to do than show up. Even at that, there are times when he takes it just a trifle over the top. The supporting cast includes Pat Morita (Mahi Mahi), Johnny Williams (Johnny Sandwich), Seymour Cassel (Tony Cataracts) and Peter Boyle, who creates one of the more memorable scenes in the movie, as Chief Orman. With `Honeymoon In Vegas,' Bergman has put together a film that, while not entirely memorable, is good for some laughs (the highlight of which is when Jack must of necessity interact with the flying Elvis impersonators). In the end, with some popcorn and a little imagination, for Cage fans especially, this movie will make for a satisfying evenings entertainment. I rate this one 6/10.