Honeymoon in Vegas

Plot

Jack Singer (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 (Parker), and quickly arranges a Las Vegas marriage. They check into the Bally's Hotel.

Before the wedding, however, a wealthy professional gambler, Tommy Korman (Caan), sees Betsy and notices a striking resemblance to his beloved late wife. 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 Singer's fiancée.

After getting Korman to agree to no sex, the desperate couple agrees. Jack tries desperately to get Betsy back and discovers that Tommy has taken her to 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. After Dr. Molar bails Jack out of jail, Mahi Mahi meets him outside and admits that Korman left for 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 Vegas. Finally, he finds a group about to depart for 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

"It wasn’t based on anything," said Bergman. "I wanted to do a boy-girl story, and in my perverse fashion, it turned out to be this."

Reception

The film earned mixed to positive reviews from critics, and currently holds a 60% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 30 reviews.

Awards and nominations

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed mainly of covers of Elvis Presley songs performed by many contemporary artists. 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. "Le Donna e 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

"All Shook Up" by Billy Joel was released as a single.

Stage version

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."

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."

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.”

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. However, the Toronto premiere was canceled, 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. 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.