'Last Vegas'

Dan Fogelman took a sharp turn from his Disney hits such as “Tangled” and “Cars” when he wrote “Last Vegas.”

A film about four elderly men in Sin City would usually sound the alarm. But director Jon Turteltaub handled it with the perfect level of immaturity and a cast with which he couldn’t go wrong: Michael Douglas, Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman and Kevin Kline. He had me at Freeman.

The movie opens with a blast to the past. Our main characters Billy (Douglas), Paddy (De Niro), Archie (Freeman) and Sam (Kline) are playing in a photo booth in an old fashioned drug store. The audience sees right away that they’re a tight-knit group of buddies from Brooklyn.

And then there’s Sophie, the girl Billy and Paddy are fighting over, and we’re left to wonder who won.

Flash forward 58 years — the boys are old men and separated. Billy is a rich big shot in Los Angeles. Archie is suffocating under his son’s care in New York. Sam is living the old man’s nightmare in Florida. And Paddy has remained in Brooklyn, still mourning the death of his wife, Sophie, a year later and stewing over Billy’s betrayal.

Now, lifelong bachelor Billy is getting married, and the boys plan to honor him with the party of the century in Vegas.

A bachelor party in Vegas makes my cliché senses tingle. But unlike in films such as “The Hangover,” we are well aware of what the characters are going through and what else they’re searching for on the trip.

Any film shot in Vegas is bound to have some great establishing shots. The film takes a refreshing turn from famous hotels like Caesar’s Palace, going to the Aria instead. And they even show us a less luxurious side of Vegas, in a tiny hole-in-the-wall casino where they meet a special singer that changes everything.

The continuity of the film is to be commended. Turteltaub did a great job of showing the character’s elderliness through bad eyesight and hearing and maintained the flaws throughout the film.

Cultural differences were also addressed through the men’s reaction to prices and even how to properly ask out a girl.

Overall, the film was adorable. With old men in Vegas, drag queens, Cirque du Soleil and 50 Cent, how could you go wrong?

Grab your grandpa, and get ready to “party like it’s 1959.”