HONEYMOON IN VEGAS (1992) ** You don't have to wander far from the beaten path to be hailed for originality, these days. In fact, it probably helps not to wander far because it leaves the herd with familiar points of reference from which to determine that you're original. They glue together a few veteran plot elements, but not in a way to make you invoke Hermann Hesse's Glasperlenspiel, at least in a positive manner. Yes, that's right Gracie, all hybrids are not interesting. Fortunately it has Nicolas Cage, Sarah Jessica Parker and James Caan in it, and they're all good enough to save it, to a reasonable extent, to keep things in the ballpark. None should be remembered for this role, but they don't stumble across nearly as many absurdities as the writers put in their path. More interesting, though, is the homogenized spirit of Elvis that pervades the proceedings (impersonated aurally by Bruce Springsteen with great success, and other recognizable voices with less). Elvis moved towards Vegas, rather than the preferable reverse, but he nonetheless made it all a little less ridiculous, and a lot more lovable. One of my favorite parts, though, is when Jerry Tarkanian's in it. He was a helluva basketball coach, an extraordinary evaluator of talent, and a recruiter nonpareil (well, ok, maybe Dale Brown).
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