capsule : five friends at a stag party are involved in the accidental killing of a prostitute .
the cover - up attempt becomes a monster that eats up the friends , two wives and several innocent bystanders .
this was a real audience pleaser at toronto , but it did not do much for me
. ,
low 0
( -4 to +4 ) - directed by peter berg who acted in the last seduction and copland .
- five buddies go on a stag outing to las vegas while cameron diaz works through the logistics of her upcoming wedding to one of them .
one of the buddies accidentally kills a prostitute .
- several people with no moral compass .
they started out with a simple , innocent little cocaine party ( ! )
and by accident look what happened .
they have one moral person among them ( daniel stern ) , and one totally amoral person ( christian slater ) .
it is more selfish to let the amoral lead , so they do .
- this film is strange , but not really funny or biting .
black comedy should actually be funny as well as strange .
there should be some element of satire .
the satire is missing here .
i did not find myself laughing here either .
what we have is a strange crime tale .
- one just does not care what happens to these people .
- the same idea of people just getting themselves in deeper and deeper has been done frequently .
if this film is popular it is just bringing a familiar plot to a new generation .
- it begins like diner ( particularly with daniel stern ) and ends up like an extended horror / crime comic book .
- there are several logical holes in script .
if a security man goes to investigate a complaint and disappears , would n't the guests he was investigating be the first suspects ?
someone framed for a crime in the way shown would be judged innocent after minimal forensic detective work .
( i am desperately trying to avoid making this a spoiler . )
- popular and situation ethics get a real slamming .
- some acting of grief is hammy and overdone .
more yelling than humor .
it did not do much for me there are several logical holes some acting of grief is hammy and overdone this film is strange , but not really funny or biting missing here