Movie Review: "What Happens in Vegas"

   Jack (Ashton Kucher) is fired from his job (building furniture) by his own father, for slacking off.  Somewhere else in the big city of New York, Joy (Cameron Diaz) gets dumped by her long-time boyfriend, while their friends wait behind the door to surprise him at the party she intricately planned for him.  The two strangers both decide a trip to Vegas is in order so they can get away from it all and regroup, taking their best friends along.  When the hotel's computers go down, a glitch puts them all in the same room, beginning a crazy night of drinking and partying that leads to an impromptu Vegas wedding!

   Jack and Joy wake the next morning, agreeing to just end the relationship, but Jack grabs a quarter Joy left on a slot machine and plays it for the heck of it, walking away before the machine finishes spinning.  To their consternation, up pops the $3 million dollar jackpot!  Problem is, they can't agree on who really won the money, so it's off to divorce court.

   Dennis Miller turns in a great performance as the clever judge, who does not grant them the divorce they so badly want.  Instead, frustrated with hasty marriages in an "I-want-it-now" generation, the judge sentences them to 6 months of married life, including marriage counseling (with actress Queen Latifah portraying their counselor) where they must show they are making an effort to get along and make things work out.  If they cannot live up to this, the judge has decreed that the winnings will be tied up in so much litigation the two will never see any of the money.  Stuck with each other, a hilarious rivalry begins where they try to outwit one another while surviving close quarters.

   The film is definitely not a family movie.  There is some language but it's not enough to keep this from being a good chick flick or date movie.  Not something the guys will want to go see on their own, though.  No nudity but definitely some sexual suggestiveness.  Both the language and innuendo led to the film's PG-13 rating.  It does offer good entertainment, a fun spin on an old story theme, and stresses that while promiscuity is a common phenomenon in today's world, the love and stability that holds a marriage together is well worth the effort and give and take required for a lasting relationship.