What Happens In Vegas, by Sandra Hall - 8th May 2008
(Credit: The Sydney Morning Herald)

Amid the bright lights, Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher fail to generate even the faintest of erotic sparks.

Remember the Paul Simon song Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover? Well, Hollywood is steadily working its way through every one. No romantic comedy is complete these days without a break-up scene, the more sadistic the better. If you're in the business of audience-identification, as all rom coms are, it seems the gentle thrill of falling in love is no longer enough. It doesn't mesmerise the modern moviegoer nearly as effectively as the dizzying sensation of being dumped.

Joy (Cameron Diaz) receives the news just as she's ushering her boyfriend in to his surprise birthday party. The lights are low, the guests are safely stowed behind the furniture and an anticipatory hush has fallen on the room. At this moment, her boyfriend decides to let her know that he is leaving her for all sorts of reasons, some of which are to do with the exhausting athleticism of her sexual performances.

What's a girl to do? It depends on the girl. Meg Ryan in a Nora Ephron movie would take to her bed to wallow in a week's worth of chick flicks. Diane Lane would take off for Tuscany and binge on house renovations. But this is Diaz, who has carved a career out of being a good sport. So the aptly named Joy and her best friend, Tipper (Lake Bell), fly to Las Vegas for a weekend of partying...

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