So let's say you're writing a film about four guys out to have the ultimate bachelor party. At some point in the action, you want the characters to win $80,000 to pay off a crazed Asian high-roller, kidnap Mike Tyson's tiger, and marry one of their friends off to a stripper/escort. What setting do you choose for said film? Boise? You might be able to find a strip club, but it'd be hard to come up with the cash. Minneapolis? No Mike Tyson tigers there. Orlando? Possibly, but too many kids around. No, there's only one place -- Vegas baby! Las Vegas is arguably the best place in America to go crazy in. If you want to enjoy a no holds barred, hang out with your wang out good time, there's no place better than Sin City, and that's what makes it a dream location for Hollywood scouts. "The Hangover" is an example of Vegas cinema at its raunchy finest. Ed Helms (who we all know and love as Andy Bernard on "The Office"), Zach Galifianakis (who has turned the quasi-ruhtard Alan into a household name), and Bradley Cooper (who really needs no explanation because he's EVERYWHERE right now) play three guys who have to hit the streets using missing teeth and hospital wristbands as clues to find their friend Doug after a night of drunken debauchery that none of them can remember. Only in Vegas, folks. What are some other Las Vegas movie classics? "Oceans Eleven" (1960 and 2001 versions): A gang of thieves plans an elaborate casino heist. "Viva Las Vegas": Elvis Presley and Las Vegas, a match made in tacky heaven. "Rain Man": There's only one place to go when you want to exploit your autistic older brother's card-counting talents. "Honeymoon in Vegas": What to do when you can't pay your gambling debts? Trade in your fiance! (P.S. This movie also get a bonus for featuring flying Elvises.) "Casino": Why come up with a money-laundering scheme when you can steal from gamblers legally? "Showgirls": Just one little stripper, who never hurt anyone, who is just trying to make her way in the world -- naked! "Leaving Las Vegas": When you want to drink yourself to death in the arms of a prostitute, again, there's nowhere better. "Fools Rush In" and/or "What Happens in Vegas": After drunken one-night stands, grown men and women learn absolutely no lesson from their mistakes when they fall in love anyway. "Swingers": You're so money baby and you don't even know it. "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas": Title says it all. "Pay It Forward": A child's do-gooder theory sweeps the nation, but started at his Clark County public school. This is by no means a comprehensive list, but just some highlights (and lowlights) of films set in Las Vegas. And as long as people can still cash their paychecks at the casinos, carry open containers down the street, and get married at drive-through windows, I'm sure there will be many more to come. Viva Las Vegas!
Of course, no list of Las Vegas movies is complete without mentioning "3000 Miles to Graceland" - you can't go wrong with Elvis impersonators with guns in Las Vegas - and "Diamonds are Forever" - the last good James Bond movie.
ReplyDeleteIt also amusing to speculate as to what new movies should be filmed in Las Vegas. My money is on - note Las Vegas gambling reference - the third film in the epic Snake Plisskin series, "Escape from Las Vegas".