What’s this all about?
Honeymoon in Vegas is a romantic comedy about an ill-fated pair of lovers who decide, on a whim, to run off to Vegas to get married, and complications ensue, primarily in the form of James Caan’s scheming. Wild hijinks follow.
The movie is basically an escalating series of funny, well-conceived setup gags, running the gamut from Italian-American tropes to overbearing mothers, to Elvis impersonators.
Who is Nick in this one?
Nick plays “Jack Singer,” a small-time New York City private eye with mother issues. He’s a relatively normal guy, which makes this one of the first times we’ve seen Nick really play an “everyman.”
Who else is in this one?
Sarah Jessica Parker plays “Betsy Nolan,” Jack’s long-suffering, but loving girlfriend. I often find Parker to be grating, but she was honestly quite good in this.
Anne Bancroft has a single scene as Jack’s mother, in which she insists that Jack promise never to get married, just before dying. It was a little shocking to see “Mrs; Robinson” come and go so quickly in the film, but the scene was hilarious, and drove the plot through the rest of the movie.
James Caan is “Tommy Korman,” a professional gambler/maybe mobster who sees Parker, and believes her to look like a young version of his dead wife. This drives him to trick Jack into agreeing to let Betsy spend the weekend with him. James Caan is a great actor, and he was fine in this, but it was basically James Caan doing a caricature of his other characters.
Pat Morita has a bit part as a Hawaiian cab driver who is in the employ of James Caan. He’s great. He’s Pat Morita, after all.
Peter Boyle has a cameo as “Chief Orman,” a weird native Hawaiian “chief” who lives in a shack and is obsessed with Broadway musicals. It’s an absolutely hilarious bit that sort of comes out of nowhere. Peter Boyle doesn’t get enough credit for the great comedy he delivered, in my opinion.
Burton Gilliam (“Lyle” from Blazing Saddles) comes out of nowhere in the third act playing “Roy Bacon” the leader of “The Flying Elvises – Utah Chapter” who helps get Jack to Vegas in time to stop Betsy from marrying Tommy. It’s another unexpectedly hilarious performance.
Tony Shaloub plays a hotel worker who gets his nuts crushed by James Cann.
Did you see that?
This movie has something that used to be very common, but you never see any more; an animated intro. While the opening credits (remember those?) play, we are treated to a cartoon version of Nick attempting to scale a giant multi-tiered wedding cake that is topped with a cartoon Sarah Jessica Parker. Various terrible things happen to cartoon Nick, and as the opening credits close, the whole cake collapses.
I’m not sure where these intros came from, or where they went, but they were usually fairly well done (this one certainly was) and gave you a little taste of the film to come. See Grease, Christmas Vacation, City Slickers, and The Pink Panther for other examples. -Michael
Did you see that Elvis? This movie had all of the Elvises. Or would it be Elvi? Sprinkled through the entire movie was Asian Elvis, Old Elvis, Black Elvis, and even tiny little kid Elvis. But none of them had anything on the skydiving Elvises. And that was not blue screened in. They filmed actual skydiving Elvises coming down to a controlled and tight landing on the Las Vegas strip. That is incredible! -Sarah
What were Nick’s best parts?
There is a scene in which Nick realizes that he’s going to have to parachute out of a plane with The Flying Elvises. Roy Bacon explains to him that he must pull the yellow rip cord after jumping, and that if his chute fails, he should then pull the red rip cord to deploy his reserve chute. Roy emphasizes that if he pulls the cords in the wrong order, that he will certainly fall to his grisly death.
Just as Nick prepares to jump, another Elvis gives Nick the opposite instructions (red then yellow), insisting that Roy was “only joking” before jumping out himself. Nick is left standing at the threshold of the plane not knowing which Elvis was joking.
I could feel the stress running through Jack’s mind, all conveyed wordlessly. It was a super funny bit, that was also super relatable, and expertly (and subtly) delivered by Cage. -Michael
I was incredibly impressed with the conversation between Nick and James Caan when James offered to take a weekend with Jessica Parker in exchange for Nick’s gambling debt. It is a ridiculous premise and ask, but they pull it off. It’s one of the most critical scenes in the movie and Nick delivers a super strong performance and does not go over the top, which as we all know is his default. -Sarah
What were Nick’s worst parts?
There are several scenes that feature Nicks I’m-talking-normally-but-NOW-I’M-SCREAMING! delivery. For the most part, it works well in this film, with one exception. After Nick has been swindled by Tommy, and has explained the situation to Betsy, they return to their hotel room to decide what to do. Nick’s shouting here feels really weird given the dynamic between the characters in the rest of the movie. -Michael
This was tough for me as I feel Nick did a solid job in this movie, but I have to go with the scene with Chief Orman. The scene just went on forever and I was just getting tired of Nick’s exasperation by the end of it. He just should have dialed it back just a little. -Sarah
How was the movie?
Honeymoon in Vegas is an example of a genre that we don’t see much, anymore; the light comedy. It isn’t Police Academy with non-stop gags, and it isn’t a modern “dark comedy” with no real jokes, but a bunch of really sarcastic characters. It’s a clear, straightforward plot that is, itself funny, punctuated with a few well-timed, well-delivered broad comedic bits. I wish we got more of these. -Michael
It was extremely entertaining! -Sarah
Yeah, but did you like it?
The movie is well-written, well-directed, well-acted, and genuinely funny. In places, it’s extremely funny. I loved it. -Michael
I loved it! -Sarah
Where can I watch it?
You can rent it on Amazon.
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