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HONEYMOON IN VEGAS
Director and co-writer Andrew Bergman had middling success with a 1992 comedy called Honeymoon in Vegas that holds interest and sustain selected chuckles despite an unfocused screenplay that the leading actor manages to rise above somehow.
Jack Singer (Nicolas Cage) is a 2nd rate New York private eye specializing in cheating spouses, who made a promise to his mother (Anne Bancroft) on her deathbed that he would never marry, but is gently pressured into flying to Vegas with girlfriend Betsy (Sarah Jessica Parker) and getting married. Upon their arrival in Vegas, Jack and Betsy are spotted in their hotel lobby by a professional gambler named Tommy Korman (James Caan) and we learn that Betsy is a dead ringer for Tommy's deceased wife, Donna.
Instantly obsessed, Tommy has an invitation sent to their suite for Jack to join a high stakes poker game in Tommy's suite. Jack puts Betsy off from the wedding chapel long enough to attend the poker game, where he is set up to lose $65,000.00. Tommy agrees to forget about the debt if Jack will let Betsy spend the rest of the weekend with him.
We have nothing terribly original in terms of storytelling, in fact, the story takes a couple of unnecessary detours, but where Bergman scores here is in his creation and casting of the character of Tommy Korman. James Caan is an absolute revelation in this role, giving one of his richest characterizations playing a character that, on the surface, is basically a mustache-twirling bad guy, but Caan breathes a charm and humanity into this character that is just intoxicating, making this character instantly likable...so likable that we almost forgive what he is doing here, almost to the point of being on his side, until he shows his true colors in the final act, where he is upstaged in the silly finale by a bunch of Elvis impersonating skydivers (don't ask).
Nicolas Cage works very hard to make us like Jack, but he plays the role a little too straight-faced, as if Bergman forgot to remind him that he was appearing in a comedy, but Sarah Jessica Parker is a lovely leading lady and there is effective use of Las Vegas and Hawaiian scenery, but the Elvis impersonators that seem to punctuate every scene get a little tiresome as do some very tired covers of Elvis' most famous songs utilized for the soundtrack, but I found the film surprisingly watchable due to the charismatic star turn by James Caan, which almost made up for the rest of the film's shortcomings.
Director and co-writer Andrew Bergman had middling success with a 1992 comedy called Honeymoon in Vegas that holds interest and sustain selected chuckles despite an unfocused screenplay that the leading actor manages to rise above somehow.
Jack Singer (Nicolas Cage) is a 2nd rate New York private eye specializing in cheating spouses, who made a promise to his mother (Anne Bancroft) on her deathbed that he would never marry, but is gently pressured into flying to Vegas with girlfriend Betsy (Sarah Jessica Parker) and getting married. Upon their arrival in Vegas, Jack and Betsy are spotted in their hotel lobby by a professional gambler named Tommy Korman (James Caan) and we learn that Betsy is a dead ringer for Tommy's deceased wife, Donna.
Instantly obsessed, Tommy has an invitation sent to their suite for Jack to join a high stakes poker game in Tommy's suite. Jack puts Betsy off from the wedding chapel long enough to attend the poker game, where he is set up to lose $65,000.00. Tommy agrees to forget about the debt if Jack will let Betsy spend the rest of the weekend with him.
We have nothing terribly original in terms of storytelling, in fact, the story takes a couple of unnecessary detours, but where Bergman scores here is in his creation and casting of the character of Tommy Korman. James Caan is an absolute revelation in this role, giving one of his richest characterizations playing a character that, on the surface, is basically a mustache-twirling bad guy, but Caan breathes a charm and humanity into this character that is just intoxicating, making this character instantly likable...so likable that we almost forgive what he is doing here, almost to the point of being on his side, until he shows his true colors in the final act, where he is upstaged in the silly finale by a bunch of Elvis impersonating skydivers (don't ask).
Nicolas Cage works very hard to make us like Jack, but he plays the role a little too straight-faced, as if Bergman forgot to remind him that he was appearing in a comedy, but Sarah Jessica Parker is a lovely leading lady and there is effective use of Las Vegas and Hawaiian scenery, but the Elvis impersonators that seem to punctuate every scene get a little tiresome as do some very tired covers of Elvis' most famous songs utilized for the soundtrack, but I found the film surprisingly watchable due to the charismatic star turn by James Caan, which almost made up for the rest of the film's shortcomings.