What Happens in Vegas Parent Guide

Neither Jack (Ashton Kutcher) nor Joy (Cameron Diaz) were planning to take a quick trip to Vegas, but when their worlds came crumbling down around them—he lost his job and she lost her fiance—the two made the emotional decision to get wasted for the weekend in Sin City. And that’s where they meet.

Accidentally booked into the same hotel room, Jack, along with his buddy Hater (Rob Corddry), and Joy, along with her friend Tipper (Lake Bell), collide with each other while in various states of undress. When the initial physical attacks from the women (who figure their hotel room has been invaded) are over, they head out on the town. After dozens of drinks, dances, a marriage and drunken sex, Jack and Joy wake up the next morning with one thought on their minds—get a divorce. It’s a quick fix until Jack tosses a final quarter into a slot machine and wins three million dollars. Problem: It was Joy’s quarter.

Later, in a New York City courtroom, Judge Whopper (Dennis Miller) isn’t about to make things any easier. Citing them as prime examples of a young generation with no respect for matrimonial commitment, the judge declares, “Gay people aren’t destroying the sanctity of marriage. You people are!” He refuses to release the cash until the two of them give their obligation a chance. Ordered to serve six months of “hard marriage,” both of them begin a series of sabotage plans to make life under one roof as difficult as possible.

Expect an overdose of sexual innuendo, brief sexual interaction (seen during the closing credits), scatological humor (a single bathroom in their apartment motivates a desperate Jack to urinate into the kitchen sink) and crass comments involving anatomy. There is also rampant alcohol use, with characters holding drinks in most scenes throughout the film. Some moderate and many mild profanities are included along with frequent uses of terms of deity and an obvious bleeping of the sexual expletive used various times in the lyrics of the closing credits’ music.

Surprisingly this excess of possibly objectionable material is truly unfortunate because What Happens In Vegas attempts to offer a clear message about the importance of making a marriage work, no matter what the obstacles. As well, it illustrates how two people, who are seemingly opposite, can discover complementary aspects of their personalities. Sadly, most families interested in such noble commentary will likely abandon their quest of finding it here due to irreconcilable differences with this movie’s content.

About author

Rod Gustafson

Rod Gustafson has worked in various media industries since 1977. He founded Parent Previews in 1993, and today continues to write and broadcast the reviews in newspapers, on radio and (of course) on the Internet. His efforts also include writing and researching media in all its forms and observing how it effects society and culture. He and his wife Donna have four children.