Very Bad Things
IT'S EVEN BAD AT BEING BAD
Grade: D
What is my job as a part time film critic? Well... up until now, it was very simple. I would see a movie. Then I would determine whether it was good or bad. Then I would decide why the film was either good or bad, and write it up in a one page summary that is entertaining and stimulating to the reader.
But now, I just came back from a film called Very Bad Things, which basically WANTS to be bad. And let me assure you... it really is. Plot elements are introduced without any sort of build-up whatsoever. Characters do things that don't make sense to the story, simply so the film could be a little more graphic. The writer/director takes pleasure in showing close ups of dead, bloody, often naked, bodies simply for the hell of it. Every racial/ethnic group or background is purposefully offended in a manner that isn't amusing or even remotely funny. Basically, writer/director Peter Berg has managed to create a black comedy about tragedy, death, and psychological break downs that consistently flips off the audience without any sort of dramatic structure or story coherence whatsoever. Yet, oddly enough, that seems to be exactly what he wanted.
The faults of this film don't lie in its original story or int he acting. The plot involves five friends going to Vegas for a bachelor party, who wind up accidently killing a local prostitute, and murdering a hotel security guard who witnesses the crime. It is at approximately that point in the film, in which everything goes to hell. This includes good taste, moral integrity, and the hopes of a movie audience to be entertained. Heck, I feel as if I've commited a few deadly sins simply by watching Very Bad Things. It should be noted, however, that the acting is mostly good- especially Cameron Diaz, who is a devilish delight as the bitchy bride to be. With her slitted eyes, irrersistably cute smile, and dark, viscious undertones, she is the quintessence of what Very Bad Things aspired to be, and fell so short of.
Films, ever since their invention at the beginning of the century, have tried to evoke emotion from their audience. Over the years, many have succeeded beyond anyone's wildest dreams at this goal, making audiences laugh, cry, cheer, and believe that there is hope left in the world. Here is a film that wants to throw all that away, and spit in the eye of anyone who mentions the word- MORALS. Here is a film that wants its audience to leave the theater feeling angry and sad. For once, the fact that a film succeeded in its goal is not a good thing. In fact, it's a very bad thing.
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