Very Bad Things (1998)

Very Bad Perhaps. Very Good Yes. But definitely nothing in the middle. Very Bad Things will antagonise most. It's certainly not the comedy it's touted to be. It's uncomfortable and it's fascinating.

Very Bad Things is a cautionary tale about the war of the sexes, the battle of consumerism. It's about collateral damage: Friendly fire is liable to take out just about anyone in the suburbs if a wedding is at stake! It's about people who have lost heart, who have forgotten what's really important.

Five male friends are off to Las Vegas for a stag party. The bride stays home to continue the wedding preparations; to plan her day of days. Accidentally the boys kill a prostitute in their hotel room and decide to hush it up, bury her in the desert to avoid the unpleasantness of an investigation. And then the body count mounts.

The boys, and later, just as viciously the bride, take the pragmatic road. That same "let's get on with business, people don't matter" sort of morality that will allow a President to lie to Congress and get away with it, cricket champions to cheat and then be made Captain, politicians to sacrifice their citizens for the sake of overseas companies, and murder to be acceptable as long as no one finds out about it. It's not how you play the game, but you must win.

The boys are pretty average types really except for Robert Boyd (Christian Slater, who was let out of prison to do the shoot!!!). Robert Boyd is a Men's Support Group graduate. He's into self fulfilment and asserting himself but is also the catalyst that tips these average men into horror. The other dominant personality is the bride Laura played by Cameron Diaz (There's Something About Mary). Her single mindedness is astounding. (Cameron Diaz is an astounding actress! Watch her eyes.)

But what is " average" in these suburbs. And what about the pressures that go with paying the mortgage and keeping the wife happy? Very Bad Things finishes with a slow overhead shot of the suburb that has become hell for this lot. The tones are dirty grey. The mood is bleak and hopeless. The residents have sold their souls for a white minivan and a posh wedding. The pressures of keeping up with the Jones have had casualties.

There are continual references to being 'a loser' in the film. Even Kyle's Dad in the Toast To The Groom at the wedding refers vividly to his son's dismal failure as a school football player. The men are liable to crack.

Very Bad Things is about the pressure cooker male bread winners are living in. The fear of failure is lurking menacingly near by. The men in the film appear to be doing reasonably well from a fiscal point of view but when the pressure rises, the girl in the hotel room dies, horrible things happen with Boyd egging them on.

The editing is ferocious, the characters are vivid and the mood is very wry indeed. Don't expect to laugh much but hell, paying the mortgage isn't much fun either.

Men have been reacting to the mess they are in in the 90's but I would say that writer/director Peter Berg doesn't think much of Men's self help groups. Slater's Robert Boyd has twisted self assertiveness to his own ends. These suburbanites commit horrendous crimes, but still, we should all consider what the men in Very Bad Things are up against.

The phrase "you do love me don't you" from the women in their lives has never sounded more manipulative.

Fmovies: If you're expecting a pleasant Howard Hawks-ian comedy, you rented the wrong damn movie! So don't say I didn't warn you. Besides, the video/DVD cover shows Christian Slater holding a chainsaw. How much warning do you need? First of all, "Very Bad Things" works out better if you don't treat it as a straightforward comedy. It's basically a mix of suspense and comedy. Almost like "Fargo." Now before you jump on me, "VBT" is nowhere near as great as "Fargo," but the two films are practically equal in tone.

At least the film contains one element that some comedies lack: the characters AREN'T acting as if they're in a comedy! When the characters panic and do foolish things, they're not contrived comic moments. People do the most absurd things when they panic.

It's hard to explain what exactly it is that makes the film funny. You just have to watch the film. But people really, really mean it when they label this as a dark comedy. Writer/director Peter Berg tries to keep a somewhat quirky tone, though. There are some slanty camera angles and the soundtrack conflicts with the tone of each scene. Don't worry, it's done intentionally. Berg, who's known mostly as an actor in films like "Cop Land" and "The Great White Hype," makes a fine directorial debut, though there is some improper pacing.

Finally, the actors are what make this film most worth seeing. I've always been a fan of Christian Slater, and believe him to be an underrated talent. He seems passionate about every character he plays, and spouts out every line of dialogue like it's poetry. His character is very interesting, as he seems to keep his cool in every situation, no matter how tragic or violent. Daniel Stern's another underrated talent, since he mostly does lightweight family comedies like the "Home Alone" flicks, and does a great job at playing his constantly paranoid character, who's the complete opposite of Slater's. Cameron Diaz gives a fine comic performance as the tightly-wound, hot-tempered wife of Jon Favreau. I think this is one of her most unique performances up-to-date. I think this was before she became such a sex symbol. Now fame has gone a little bit more to her head, starring in such throwaway flicks as the "Charlie's Angels" films and "The Sweetest Thing." She is in fact a very talented actress, but this movie most proves that she's more than just a pretty face. Speaking of pretty faces, Jeanne Tripplehorn also gives a fine comic performance as Stern's tightly-wound wife.

I consider myself an admirer of dark comedies, but any type of film can fail. This one doesn't. It made me laugh and kept me in suspense. And it has a great share of profanity, violence and nudity (that Asian stripper was deliciously hot!!!). "Very Bad Things" is not for the straitlaced, or faint of heart, but for the rest of us--have fun!!!

My score: 7 (out of 10)

I thought this movie was going to suck. But I was wrong. This film ranks among the great dramedies (Dr. Strangelove, Little Shop of Horrors, American Beauty, The Cable Guy) by adding sharp comedy with horrific themes that in the wrong circumstances would make this a hard core porno/horror film. Plot involves a couple (Jon Favreu and Cameron Diaz) who are about to get married, but not before the bachelor party with friends Christian Slater, Daniel Slater and others with stripper (and actual porn star) Kobe Tai. It gets juicy after the party when the stripper gets killed, and body count (and laughter) come up in high dosage. Peter Berg makes a great debut as writer/director by making the characters all bad in equal ways, but also throughout the film trying to redeem they're problems (except for Slater who gives his best performance in a while). Fun all around, even if it's Charles Manson fun. One of the better films of the decade. A+

Very Bad Things fmovies. Boy, I have heard a lot of people knock this film and really slam it and I don't get it. Sure, it was dark, pitch dark, but it was funny. Lighten up people. The story picks up with Favreau about to be married to Cameron Diaz, not bad, Jon. Favreau's character seems quite nervous, we will later find out why that is. This is one of those classic abyss films, how much farther down can the lives of these guys go into the dark void. Each decision made leads them into more dire consequences. Christian Slater is at his comedic best, his character is sort of a cross between Charles Manson and Anthony Robbins. Stern has you convinced that he is about to have a stroke. Piven is also quite good. Everybody is good in this film. The film deals with the consequences of how people deal with a crisis. If one takes the moral way out, perhaps everything will be alright. However, if one takes another way to avoid possible punishment, what will be the long term outcome of that? In this film, you see through hindsight, what a tangled web we weave when we first practice to deceive. Great performances, great direction, great movie! **** out of ****!

Depressing? Maybe. Disturbing? Certainly. Tasteless? My God, yes. Brilliant? Without a doubt. If one sets aside one's prudish moral beefs with this film, there is no disputing the fact that this motion picture takes total advantage of its medium. The story is well-constructed, the direction is solid, and the performances are impeccable (they finally found a use for Daniel Stern!). And, sure, it's got some graphic violence, and a pinch of gratuitous sex, but in the end, it does have a moral. I'm sorry, but this is easily one of the best films of the 1990's, and I'll personally spit on anyone who says otherwise.

A couple of days before his wedding with Laura Garrety (Cameron Diaz), Kyle Fisher (Jon Favreau) travels to Las Vegas for a bachelor party with his friends Charles Moore (Leland Orser), Robert Boyd (Christian Slater), Michael Berkow (Jeremy Piven) and his brother Adam Berkow (Daniel Stern) in his minivan. They go to an apartment in the hotel and get crazy drinking booze and using cocaine. When the stripper Tina (Carla Scott, a.k.a. Kobe Tai) comes to their room, she teases the friends and Michael goes with her to the bathroom to have sex. The prostitute hits the hanger for towel with her nape and she dies. The group panics, but Boyd convinces his friends to bury the woman in the desert. However one security guard comes to the room because of the noise and he glances at the dead body. He wants to call the police and Boyd stabs him to death. Then they clean the room and bury the bodies in the desert.

They return home and Adam freaks out with the situation, causing an accident with his wife Lois Berkow (Jeanne Tripplehorn) and children. Meanwhile Laura organizes the wedding party and during the rehearsal, Michael and Adam have a serious argument and Michael decides to hit the minivan of his brother. Adam tries to protect his minivan and is accidentally murdered by his brother. Soon Lois finds a note written by Adam and presses the group to know what happened in Vegas. What will happen to them?

"Very Bad Things" is one of the darkest comedies ever. The storyline of a group of friends that accidentally kills a woman is not original and has been used many times (for example, the 1997 low-budget "Stag"). However, "Very Bad Things" by Peter Berg has improved the story and is little gem of black humor. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Uma Loucura de Casamento" ("A Crazzy Wedding")