From: slib1602@altair.selu.edu
Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies
Subject: Re: REVIEW: HONEYMOON IN VEGAS
Date: 8 Sep 92 15:01:04 -0600
Reply-To: slib1602@selu.edu
Followup-To: rec.arts.movies
Distribution: world
Organization: Southeastern Louisiana University

In article <1992Sep8.152756.10741@cbnewsj.cb.att.com>, leeper@mtgzy.att.com (Mark R. Leeper) writes:
>                              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
> 					att!mtgzy!leeper
> 					leeper@mtgzy.att.com

Do you recommend this movie be seen at full price, cheap night, or wait for it 
to come out on video?