HONEYMOON IN VEGAS
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1992 Mark R. Leeper
Capsule review: The writer of THE IN-LAWS and THE FRESHMAN tells the story of a love triangle of a neurotic New York private detective trying to marry his girlfriend while a big-time gambler tries to win her away. Much of the story takes place in a Las Vegas infested with Elvis lookalikes. Lots of little pieces that only sometimes hang together well. Rating: +1 (-4 to +4).
Andrew Bergman has been around making comedies for a long time, but in HONEYMOON IN VEGAS he seems more like a new and talented amateur than a seasoned professional. Bergman wrote and directed SO FINE and THE FRESHMAN, both of which jabbed at bad taste in American popular culture. With HONEYMOON IN VEGAS he has stopped his little jabs and pulled out a meat slicer to go after the cult of Elvis worshippers. Not that his basic plot has anything at all to do with Elvis: he uses Elvis just to create a comic background for his real story.
Jack Singer (played by likably goofy Nicholas Cage) has been a diffident lover to Betsy (played by Sarah Jessica Parker) due to a deathbed promise to his mother (played by Anne Bancroft in cameo) that he would never marry. Finally Betsy overcomes the promise and the two head for Las Vegas for a quick marriage. That is where Betsy is seen by tough gambler Tommy Korman (played by James Caan). Betsy has a very strong resemblance to the wife Korman lost to skin cancer, and Korman decides to snare Betsy for himself. He lures Jack into a high-stakes poker game, takes him to the tune of $65,000, and then makes a deal with Jack: Jack's debt will be forgiven if Betsy will be Korman's platonic companion for the weekend. Korman wants to use charm and his rather comfortable lifestyle to win Betsy. Meanwhile, Jack is becoming increasingly frantic to break up the pair as Korman spirits Betsy off to Maui.
What does all this have to do with Elvis? Nothing really. But the background of the story is a Las Vegas having a convention of Elvis impersonators. Bergman constantly comments on the story with carefully chosen Elvis songs and shows us an army of gaudy Elvis lookalikes, Elvises of many races and sizes. The film is just two Elvises short of pushing the gag too far.
The usually reserved James Caan and the never reserved Nicholas Cage each seem to have a field day chewing up the scenery. It is very rare to see Caan putting this much expression in a role and clearly enjoying himself. Smaller roles go to the always enjoyable Pat Morita and Peter Boyle as an unnatural naturalized Hawaiian.
The photography is surprisingly spotty. At least two scenes appeared totally washed out in the print we saw. Some scenes of natural beauty in Maui and natural beauty (?) in Vegas owe more to William Fraker's camerawork. The cartoon credits were amusing and usually made sense. Overall this is an amiable but unexceptional comedy. I rate it a +1 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
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