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Honeymoon in Vegas

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Honeymoon in Vegas
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAndrew Bergman
Written byAndrew Bergman
Produced byMike Lobell
Starring
CinematographyWilliam A. Fraker
Edited byBarry Malkin
Music byDavid Newman
Production
companies
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
Release date
  • August 28, 1992 (1992-08-28)
Running time
96 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$25 million
Box office$35 million

Honeymoon in Vegas is a 1992 American comedy film directed by Andrew Bergman and starring James Caan, Nicolas Cage, and Sarah Jessica Parker.

Plot

Private eye Jack Singer (Nicolas Cage) has sworn to his mother while she was on her deathbed that he would never get married. Years later, he goes back on his promise and proposes to his girlfriend, Betsy (Sarah Jessica Parker), and quickly arranges a Las Vegas marriage. They check into the Bally's Casino Resort.

Before the wedding, however, a wealthy professional gambler, Tommy Korman (James Caan), sees Betsy and notices a striking resemblance to his beloved late wife Donna. He arranges a crooked poker game (with Jerry Tarkanian as one of the other players) where Jack borrows $65,000 after being dealt a straight flush (7-8-9-10-Jack of clubs), only to lose to the gambler's higher straight flush (8-9-10-Jack-Queen of hearts); Tommy, however, promises to erase the debt - if he can spend the weekend with Betsy.

After getting Tommy to agree to no sex, the desperate couple agrees. Jack tries desperately to get Betsy back and discovers that Tommy has taken her to Kauai, Hawaii, where he has a vacation home. The gambler also has a taxi driver friend, Mahi Mahi (Pat Morita), and asks him to keep Jack as far as possible from him and Betsy. Jack discovers this, steals the taxi, and sees Betsy outside the Kauai Club, where he's attacked by Tommy and arrested. Jack's dentist friend, Sally Molars (John Capodice), bails Jack out of jail. Mahi Mahi meets Jack outside and admits that Tommy left for Las Vegas with Betsy and has convinced her to marry him. Mahi races Jack to the airport. Betsy decides she cannot go through with the wedding and escapes from Tommy.

Meanwhile, after changing many planes and finding himself stuck in San Jose, Jack tries frantically to find a flight to Las Vegas. Finally, he finds a group about to depart for Las Vegas, but, much to his surprise, finds out mid-flight that they are the Utah chapter of the "Flying Elvises" - a skydiving team of Elvis impersonators. Jack now realizes that he will have to skydive from 3,000 feet in order to get to Betsy. Jack eventually is able to overcome his fear and lands and spots Betsy, which then ruins Tommy's plans.

The final scene shows Jack and Betsy getting married in a small Las Vegas chapel with the Flying Elvises as guests, Jack still in his white illuminated jumpsuit and Betsy in her stolen showgirl outfit.

Cast

Production and release

Director and writer Andrew Bergman said about the film, "It wasn't based on anything. I wanted to do a boy-girl story, and in my perverse fashion, it turned out to be this."[1] The film's budget was $25 million.[2]

Filming began in August 1991,[3] and was underway in Las Vegas as of September.[4] Bally's Casino Resort was among the filming locations in Las Vegas.[3] Las Vegas' Chapel of the Bells wedding chapel was also used for filming.[5] Other filming locations included New York, and Culver Studios in California.[3]

Filming in Kauai was concluded as of November 1991.[3] Among the filming locations in Kauai was the Inn on the Cliffs restaurant, located at the Westin Kauai Hotel.[6] Filming also took place at Kauai's National Tropical Botanical Garden.[7] A house on Anini Beach was used as Tommy Korman's Hawaiian residence.[7][8] The film was initially rated R for language, and was edited to instead receive a PG-13 rating.[3]

A premiere event was held for the film at Mann's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood on August 25, 1992.[9] The film was released theatrically on August 28, 1992.[3]

Reception

Box office

The film earned $35,208,854 during its theatrical run.[2]

Critical response

The film earned mixed to positive reviews from critics, On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 63% based on 32 reviews, with an average rating of 5.9/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Honeymoon in Vegas is a light screwball comedy that has just about what you expect (and nothing you don't)."[10]

Awards and nominations

50th Golden Globe Awards
  • Nominated: Best Picture - Musical or Comedy
  • Nominated: Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy: Nicolas Cage

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed mainly of covers of Elvis Presley songs performed by country and pop/rock artists.[11][12] Also included are the ramblings of Chief Orman when Mahi Mahi takes Jack to his Chief's shack instead of Korman's beach side mansion. The score is by David Newman.

Track listing (movie)

  1. "Viva Las Vegas" - Bruce Springsteen
  2. "Hound Dog" - (score) - Jeff Beck and Jed Leiber
  3. "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" - Bryan Ferry
  4. "Heartbreak Hotel" - Billy Joel
  5. "Jailhouse Rock" - John Mellencamp
  6. "Suspicious Minds" - Dwight Yoakam
  7. "Burning Love" - Travis Tritt
  8. "That's All Right" - Vince Gill
  9. "Love Me Tender" - Amy Grant
  10. "All Shook Up" - Billy Joel
  11. "Blue Hawaii" - Willie Nelson
  12. "(You're the) Devil in Disguise" - Trisha Yearwood
  13. "Wear My Ring Around Your Neck" - Ricky Van Shelton
  14. "Surrender" - Elvis Presley
  15. "Jailhouse Rock" - Elvis Presley
  16. "That's All Right" - Elvis Presley
  17. "Can't Help Falling in Love" - Bono
  18. "It's Now or Never" - Elvis Presley
  19. "Can't Help Falling in Love" - (score)
  20. "La Donna è Mobile" - Franco Bonisolli
  21. "Hawaii Kua Uli" - (score)
  22. "Happy Talk" - Peter Boyle
  23. "Hilo March" - (score)
  24. "(Let Me) Be Your Teddy Bear - (score)
  25. "Ka Lae O Makahonu" - (score)
  26. "Waikiki Beach" - (score)
  27. "Bali Hai" - Peter Boyle

Track listing (available on CD)

  1. "All Shook Up" - Billy Joel
  2. "Wear My Ring Around Your Neck" - Ricky Van Shelton
  3. "Love Me Tender" - Amy Grant
  4. "Burning Love" - Travis Tritt
  5. "Heartbreak Hotel" - Billy Joel
  6. "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" - Bryan Ferry
  7. "Suspicious Minds" - Dwight Yoakam
  8. "(You're The) Devil in Disguise" - Trisha Yearwood
  9. "Hound Dog" - Jeff Beck and Jed Leiber
  10. "That's All Right" - Vince Gill
  11. "Jail House Rock" - John Mellencamp
  12. "Blue Hawaii" - Willie Nelson
  13. "Can't Help Falling in Love" - Bono

Chart performance

Chart (1992) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums 4
U.S. Billboard 200 18
Canadian RPM Country Albums 6
Canadian RPM Top Albums 30

Stage version

Main article: Honeymoon in Vegas (musical)

Bergman says when he finished the film he thought it might make a good musical. He was distracted making movies but then had open heart surgery in 2001. "When you have open-heart surgery, you say, what do I really want to do? What haven't I done? I thought it'd be great to do a musical."[1]

Jason Robert Brown, a composer, had always wanted to do Honeymoon as a musical and wrote some songs on spec. He and Bergman agreed to collaborate. "We certainly were looking to do a real book musical that isn't really done much anymore," said Bergman. We wanted the sound to be of the '60s and '70s—not that it's a throwback, but we wanted that sound. We wanted to be a brassy, come and love us kind of show."[1]

A big change from the movie was the character of the mother was kept alive. "Having her recur is a great thing for the show," said Bergman. "It keeps her spirit alive and it keeps his mishigas alive. That was a real change."[1]

A musical stage version of the movie was written by Jason Robert Brown (music and lyrics) and Andrew Bergman (book). A Broadway-bound production was expected to debut in Toronto in November 2012, starring Tony Danza as Tommy Korman.[13] However, the Toronto premiere was canceled,[14] and production was transferred to the Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey instead with Danza remaining. The Paper Mill production opened on September 26, 2013 and ran through October 27.[15] The musical began previews on Broadway at the Nederlander Theatre on November 18, 2014, and opened officially on January 15, 2015. Direction is by Gary Griffin with choreography by Denis Jones. The cast features Tony Danza, Rob McClure and Brynn O'Malley, who were also in the Paper Mill production.[16]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Snetiker, Marc (9 January 2015). "Andrew Bergman on writing 'Blazing Saddles,' 'Striptease,' 'Honeymoon in Vegas' and more". Entertainment Weekly.
  2. ^ a b "Honeymoon in Vegas (1992)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Honeymoon in Vegas (1992)". American Film Institute. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  4. ^ "Holiday in Hyannisport A new woman in JFK Jr.'s life". USA Today. September 3, 1991. Retrieved August 23, 2019 – via NewsLibrary.
  5. ^ "How to Get Married in Las Vegas". Yahoo!. August 12, 2016. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  6. ^ Gordon, William A. (1995). Shot on This Site: A Traveler's Guide to the Places and Locations Used to Film Famous Movies and TV Shows. Citadel Press. p. 239. ISBN 9780806516479. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  7. ^ a b Noland, Eric (December 21, 2003). "Kauai and the silver screen". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  8. ^ Gardner, Terry (October 23, 2011). "Kauai remains a popular film location". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  9. ^ Higgins, Bill (August 27, 1992). "Viva Las Vegas! And Elvis!". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  10. ^ "Honeymoon in Vegas (1992)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  11. ^ "Movie Features Presley Songs". The Commercial Appeal. July 22, 1992. Retrieved August 23, 2019 – via NewsLibrary.
  12. ^ "Stars Do Elvis Hits on Movie Soundtrack". San Francisco Chronicle. July 22, 1992. Retrieved August 23, 2019 – via NewsLibrary.
  13. ^ "Tony Danza to hit Broadway in 'Honeymoon in Vegas'". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2012-02-06.
  14. ^ "Broadway-Bound Toronto Production of Honeymoon in Vegas, Starring Tony Danza, Canceled", broadway.com, August 2, 2012
  15. ^ Gans, Andrew. " Honeymoon in Vegas, Starring Tony Danza, Rob McClure and Brynn O'Malley, Ends Paper Mill Run Oct. 27", playbill.com, October 27, 2013
  16. ^ Gans, Andrew. " Honeymoon in Vegas Will Arrive on Broadway in November; Initial Casting Announced" Archived 2014-06-22 at the Wayback Machine playbill.com, June 18, 2014
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