Odd, both my wife and I were laughing like crazy at this film, especially the ending. I guess we were meant for each other.
Og help me, I actually saw this happen once, but the guy didn’t die. Just laid still for a few moments and stood with a bloody mouth and walked/was helped away. Not much worse than seeing a regular ole barfight, but seeing it them picturing yourself going through it has a bit of an effect. Long term consequence? Either you have dental insurance or you have a funny looking smile. In American X I think it was Norton breaking the shitbag’s neck more than busting a few teeth.
And as much as I touted Slater as the next Nicholson for years, VBT sucked hardcore.
I have to disagree with almost all of this thread.
Let me say that I believe VBT to be one of the funniest movies of all time, and I’ll try to explain why. Feel free to agree or disagree with me as you please, but I’d love some feedback on my take on the movie.
Cameron Diaz is the main character in the movie.
Look at her. Listen to her. Pay close attention to her dialogue.
She hounds poor Jon Favreau through the whole movie. Her only concern is that she has the best wedding ever, and nobody is going to ruin that for her, especially not her groom’s lifelong friends. She begins the movie, ends the movie and defines the movie by her demands on her fiance. Every other line out of her mouth demands from Jon “Do you love me?!!?!” I noticed this the first time thorugh. She’s an emotional blackmailer. Every time poor Jon doesn’t answer “yes,” she pins him to the wall and makes him. The turning point of the movie, according to me, is when he asks her the same question and she blows it off.
There’s a reason the movie ends with her kneeling in the middle of the street screaming at the unfairness of it all. Because all the sick shit you’ve been watching for an hour and change is just the setting of the stage for one selfish selfish woman’s comeuppance.
The first time I saw this movie, I watched it with some friends- it was my turn to pick a movie, and I picked a Slater movie because he’s one of my favorite actors. Midway through, I was lost, disturbed, and more than a little apologetic. We were all looking at each other and shaking our heads. But that last scene… “Honey, is this about us? Do you want to talk?” and her running into the middle of the anonymous, generic development, screaming…
I looked at the TV, turned to my pals and said, “Holy shit, it’s Ender’s Game!!” And proceeded to die laughing.
The movie is brilliant.
If you’re watching it as a story, you’re likely to be disappointed.
Another voice of dissent here.
I absolutely loved, loved, loved this movie.
Yes, it has no redeeming qualitities and no sympathetic characters.
I did see the humour in it, it was just so out there and so shocking…
I think it is a bit paralel to laughing when poor Marvin gets accidentally shot in the face in Pulp Fiction.
Some people gasp, some break out in laughter.
It is a complete guilty pleasure for me.
I’m not blaming you a bit for recommending it and, actually, after sleeping on it, am glad you did. I guess it just took a little while for the shock of it to wear off and looking back on it now, I’m not as bothered as I was except for the specific scenes I mentioned, which are still terrible.
I’ll have to look at *Stag *and The Sweetest Thing now too.
Hey All,
First off, let me say that I liked the movie. I liked it so much I own it!
I think there are a couple of ‘themes’ and ‘ironies’ that are being skipped over.
There is the ‘younger brother was/is/will-always-be a fuck up’ Who killed the hooker, who lost his cool, who killed his brother…
Then there is the irony of the older brother being a secret screw up by not paying his life insurance…
And the slam against insurance companies that don’t pay out…
As Happy Scrappy Hero Pup points out, this movie is a slam against demanding brides. We had a big wedding and I could definately identify with the groom. “We need padded chairs!” Then she kills Christian Slater so her wedding won’t be messed up!
Which leads to a slight problem with the whole movie, If Christian Slater’s plan was to get the insurance money, then he must have planned to kill the hooker?
I think you have to have seen a lot of movies to ‘get’ the humor of sterotypes taken to their extremes. The bride that wants a perfect wedding, the groom who wants a happy wife, the older brother looking forward to being responsible, the younger brother trying not be a screw up, the trusted friend, the scheming friend.
I do agree with Case Sensative that Christian Slater did a Very Bad Imitation of Jack.
I think the funniest line in the whole movies was the groom’s response, “You want me to kill the dog?”