Very Bad Things

One thing that's great about actors turned directors, like Peter Berg, is that they can be great at eliciting performances from the cast.

Acting is everything in this movie - as the plot spirals out of control, the acting has to maintain the necessary suspension of disbelief. Here it does.

Daniel Stern gives an eyeball-popping tour de force among a cast with some excellent character actors.

A gory and grotesque comedy nightmare masterpiece!

I have seen this movie three times and each time I am amazed, humored, frightened and relieved with the poetic justice at the end. And it's about time that I watch it again. The only problem I have with this movie is the title. Every time I try and remember the name I can't think of it. Maybe it should have been called Bachelor Party or Stag Party. I guarantee once you've seen it, you'll never forget it. Especially when your sons are planning marriage. The plot is great...fun time in Vegas. Girls, gambling, maybe sex. Then the plot thickens and from the bathroom scene on, you will not be able to leave the movie. Have your pacemaker checked, your box of tissue nearby, to wipe away tears of laughter, and enjoy. If there were higher than a "10" rating for a movie, Very Bad Things would achieve it hands down. It's not for children though, so view it after the little ones are in bed. Teenagers are fine, they know more about life then we want to believe. This movie has the comedy, the macabre and a justified ending. Rent it, buy it, watch it!

Very Bad Perhaps. Very Good Yes. But definitely nothing in the middle. Very Bad Things will antagonise most. It's certainly not the comedy it's touted to be. It's uncomfortable and it's fascinating.

Very Bad Things is a cautionary tale about the war of the sexes, the battle of consumerism. It's about collateral damage: Friendly fire is liable to take out just about anyone in the suburbs if a wedding is at stake! It's about people who have lost heart, who have forgotten what's really important.

Five male friends are off to Las Vegas for a stag party. The bride stays home to continue the wedding preparations; to plan her day of days. Accidentally the boys kill a prostitute in their hotel room and decide to hush it up, bury her in the desert to avoid the unpleasantness of an investigation. And then the body count mounts.

The boys, and later, just as viciously the bride, take the pragmatic road. That same "let's get on with business, people don't matter" sort of morality that will allow a President to lie to Congress and get away with it, cricket champions to cheat and then be made Captain, politicians to sacrifice their citizens for the sake of overseas companies, and murder to be acceptable as long as no one finds out about it. It's not how you play the game, but you must win.

The boys are pretty average types really except for Robert Boyd (Christian Slater, who was let out of prison to do the shoot!!!). Robert Boyd is a Men's Support Group graduate. He's into self fulfilment and asserting himself but is also the catalyst that tips these average men into horror. The other dominant personality is the bride Laura played by Cameron Diaz (There's Something About Mary). Her single mindedness is astounding. (Cameron Diaz is an astounding actress! Watch her eyes.)

But what is " average" in these suburbs. And what about the pressures that go with paying the mortgage and keeping the wife happy? Very Bad Things finishes with a slow overhead shot of the suburb that has become hell for this lot. The tones are dirty grey. The mood is bleak and hopeless. The residents have sold their souls for a white minivan and a posh wedding. The pressures of keeping up with the Jones have had casualties.

There are continual references to being 'a loser' in the film. Even Kyle's Dad in the Toast To The Groom at the wedding refers vividly to his son's dismal failure as a school football player. The men are liable to crack.

Very Bad Things is about the pressure cooker male bread winners are living in. The fear of failure is lurking menacingly near by. The men in the film appear to be doing reasonably well from a fiscal point of view but when the pressure rises, the girl in the hotel room dies, horrible things happen with Boyd egging them on.

The editing is ferocious, the characters are vivid and the mood is very wry indeed. Don't expect to laugh much but hell, paying the mortgage isn't much fun either.

Men have been reacting to the mess they are in in the 90's but I would say that writer/director Peter Berg doesn't think much of Men's self help groups. Slater's Robert Boyd has twisted self assertiveness to his own ends. These suburbanites commit horrendous crimes, but still, we should all consider what the men in Very Bad Things are up against.

The phrase "you do love me don't you" from the women in their lives has never sounded more manipulative.

I know why people hate this film. They are wrong, but I know why they hate it. They take it too seriously. They are too easily offended. They fail to pick up on the subtle little reminders that Peter Berg includes every once in awhile to let you know, "hey, this is a comedy." The story revolves around a main character, who is soon to be wed to a dominating fiancé, who seems to love the idea of having a big wedding more than she loves her her future husband. Well, our main character and his four closest buddies are off to Vegas for one last night of freedom and fun. In the group you have a pair of Jewish brothers that hate each other, a confused mechanic, and a real estate agent that is a cross between Anthony Robbins and Charles Manson. Well, not to give anything away, but let's just say that some very bad things happen in Vegas, very bad things, and how it will play out after that, well, it is just too entertaining to watch. The acting in this movie is superb, I mean great. The story is fantastic, with tons of hooks and switches. Yes, there is violence and somethings happen, that if they occurred in real life, well, you might be disturbed. HOWEVER, this is a movie! And it is one of my favorite films of all-time. I give it a 10, without hesitation.

I thought this movie was going to suck. But I was wrong. This film ranks among the great dramedies (Dr. Strangelove, Little Shop of Horrors, American Beauty, The Cable Guy) by adding sharp comedy with horrific themes that in the wrong circumstances would make this a hard core porno/horror film. Plot involves a couple (Jon Favreu and Cameron Diaz) who are about to get married, but not before the bachelor party with friends Christian Slater, Daniel Slater and others with stripper (and actual porn star) Kobe Tai. It gets juicy after the party when the stripper gets killed, and body count (and laughter) come up in high dosage. Peter Berg makes a great debut as writer/director by making the characters all bad in equal ways, but also throughout the film trying to redeem they're problems (except for Slater who gives his best performance in a while). Fun all around, even if it's Charles Manson fun. One of the better films of the decade. A+