De Niro, Douglas, Kline and Freeman - it’s considered a dream cast no matter who you are, but to play comedy? I mean, they’re all playing age-appropriate characters and not one of them portrays a cop or criminal. No, this time the old fogies are hitting Vegas for a bachelor party. Armed with heart and blood pressure meds (along with a viagra or two), freedom and maybe even a hall-pass, the lads get into all kids of mischief to prove you’re never to old to... um... ahh... go to Vegas?
After Billy (Michael Douglas) proposes to his much younger girlfriend accidentally on purpose at a funeral, he rallies his childhood best friends Archie (Morgan Freeman), Sam (Kevin Kline) and Paddy (Robert De Niro) to attend the festivities in Las Vegas and join him in a few days of pre-wedding celebrations. Sam, suffering from retirement boredom in Florida and Archie, desperate to flee the clutches his overprotective son, are both eager for the escape. However, it’s Paddy, still reeling from the death of his wife and a deep resentment towards Billy, that could derail the whole thing. Once in the bright light city, with the aid of a less-than-enthusiastic concierge Lonnie (Romany Malco), the unexpected sycophant Dean (Jerry Ferrara) and a sassy lounge singer Diana (Mary Steenburgen), the quartet discover that there’s still some oil left in the old tank and that life can still provide a few surprises after 60.
Filled with a few genuine laughs and butter-smooth on-screen chemistry between the four stars who have surely known each other for decades, this just isn’t the right film for this juggernaut of talent. Riding the ‘Bridesmaids’ and ‘The Hangover’ bandwagon, ‘Last Vegas’ plays cheap and hollow despite the supreme pleasure in seeing its leading men on screen together. Douglas’ Billy is cliché while De Niro is grossly annoying as the bitter and vague Paddy. Kline and Freeman are the sidekick duo that provide the laughs, but you can never quite sure if it’s out of pity or respect.
There are certainly worse films out there, but there are definitely better. Watchable and sporting a certain amount of charm, still, ‘Last Vegas’ should have taken its own advice and stayed in Vegas.