Review of What Happens in Vegas (2008) by Chads. — 15 May 2008

With its aggressively reactionary attitude towards Type A women in the workplace, it's surprsing to discover that "What Happens in Vegas" was written by a woman. The film reduces the stature of day trader Joy McNally(Cameron Diaz), through a series of degrading encounters with Jack Fuller(Ashton Kutcher), who she married under the influence of an all-night bender.

And then there the matter of the slots. The slots make her a slut for the almighty dollar. When they finally do embark on their new lives together, Jack will take on the role of sole provider, because Joy decides that she'd rather do nothing.

She turns down a promotion at her stock brokerage firm to be a trophy wife. Joy, literally, looks like a prize in her trophy-colored dress(a gold dress), when she asks Jack to unzip the back. This gesture of servility is a sort of unspoken promise that she'll ditch her "travelin'" pants(the pants belonging to a sisterhood of strong women), so he can wear his, when their union becomes legit.

"What Happens in Vegas..." debases Joy by making her fawn over a man who displays nothing but contempt for this ambitious woman during their alleged courtship. Any sane female with a measure of self-respect for herself would walk out the door after falling inside a toilet bowl, and eating popcorn with possible trace elements of "hair-gel".

The contrivances of this rom-com doesn't bother me; it's the misogyny.