16 November,2013 11:13 PM IST | | Mihir Fadnavis
Starring Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman, Michael Douglas and Kevin Kline, Last Vegas is quite a tremendous concept with terrible execution.
Four guys who've been friends for 60 years have a reunion at Las Vegas for a wedding -- this is a genuinely interesting story, and it deserved a good writer and a filmmaker, especially with the kind of acting talent on board. Instead there's Jon Turtletaub, who made the National Treasure movies at the helm, and he royally wastes the intrigue of the plot.u00a0
You can see every single joke or poignant moment coming from a mile away. Freeman's character has trouble with accepting dependence on his son to live his life, Douglas' character has trouble weighing the pros and cons of marrying someone half his age, Kline's character has trouble with the existential angst of a hall pass from his wife, and De Niro is angry about something -- which gives him a chance to scowl and punch someone in the face.
This is lazy writing for a Hollywood movie with four legendary actors and they deserve better than this, as do the audience.
None of the jokes are funny as such and none of the sentimental moments are moving in any way. Theoretically it should be very easy to be able to relate with these characters and sympathise with them, but when the likes of De Niro, Douglas, Freeman and Kline fail to render any emotion within you it's time to leave the hall and watch their earlier films on DVD.u00a0