VERY BAD THINGS (1998)
1 dead prostitute (out of 4)
Directed by: Peter Berg Written by: Peter Berg Cast: Jon Favreau, Cameron Diaz, Christian Slater, Jeremy Piven, Daniel Stern
reviewed by Jonathan Hauer
Y'ever see a car wreck? How about one in slow-motion? How about in super slo-mo? How about one hundred one minutes of slo-mo car wreck up-close and personal in all its teeth gnashing, nail scraping, shriek-inducing glory? Well, if this is what's lacking in your life, please see "Very Bad Things."
The movie details Kyle Fisher's (Jon Favreau) ill-fated bachelor party. You see, his wife-to-be is demanding, the planning is a chore, and his only relief is a night in Vegas with his mean-spirited, low-life, self-righteous childhood pals. After quickly tiring of the obligatory gambling and pro-wrestling pay-per-view, the boys move on to cocaine and a woman of the night, which one of the man accidentally kills. This premise is not a bad one, in my book. This is not to say that I am condoning either hooker slaughter or drug abuse, but the fact is that these are dark and titillating subjects (see car wreck, above) which can propel a movie in the right direction for an adult audience.
But, alas, these are cheap, contrived situations and Peter Berg leads us through one hundred one of the most tedious and depressing moments of our lives, second only to our own true tragedies. On the positive side, the acting is pretty good. I was convinced (with the exception of the developments involving Christian Slater's character) that these fellas were being run through hell and back. I truly felt Kyle was trapped, I felt Adam (Daniel Stern) was grossand pathetic and I felt like Michael (Jeremy Piven) was an irresponsible, hot-headed jerk. However, gross manipulation does not a movie make. In this respect, I was reminded of last year's "Return to Paradise," another long, slow car wreck of a movie, which showed us the most pathetic and heart-rending of stories, but that's all it showed.
The tone of "Very Bad Things" felt awfully inappropriate at times. At the beginning I was impressed that the film decided to defy its previews and take the much more serious tone of a darker film rather than a dark comedy. But, then, as if to confuse, each act was concluded with an entirely contradictory happy, jazzy tune...way to kill the mood, guys. It's like they were trying to say, "hey, we were just kidding about all that horrible stuff," but without the actual humor to back it up. Add to that a very bad sense of timing -- how many days took place between the bachelor's party and the wedding? -- and you've got yourself a stinker of a movie.
I found myself wondering why I had enjoyed other dark movies (Fargo, A Simple Plan) to a great degree, but not this one. What was the difference? The difference for "Very Bad Things" was an uneven tone, a lack of any human sympathy for anyone in the film, and a story that was entirely too predictable. It could've been better, the audience can see the potential, Peter Berg's direction was very interesting at times, but that just made it all the more frustrating.
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