Quartile rating: 6/10 · 1 rating
During a wild vacation in Las Vegas, career woman Joy McNally and playboy Jack Fuller come to the sober realization that they have married each other after a night of drunken abandon. They are then compelled, for legal reasons, to live life as a couple for a limited period of time. At stake is a large amount of money.
What Happens in Vegas is a thoroughly formulaic romantic comedy that hits every expected beat of the accidental-marriage subgenre without surprise. The plot is entirely predictable — opposites forced together, mutual antagonism softening into love — recycled from countless rom-coms before it. Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher bring reasonable chemistry and comic energy, elevating the material somewhat, though neither is operating near their peak. Cinematography is workmanlike studio fare with no distinctive visual personality. Novelty is low; the Las Vegas accidental-marriage premise had been well-worn by 2008 and the film adds nothing fresh to the formula. The ending resolves exactly as audiences would expect from the opening minutes, offering no subversion or surprise. A serviceable but entirely disposable entry in the genre.