Very Bad Things

A black comedy with courage and pace that is reminiscent of films like Shallow Grave and the work of Tarantino. The veneer of civilisation that camouflages human instinct turns out to be very thin. Kyle Fischer is about to marry Laura (Cameron Diaz), a sweet but rather nervous bride who is determined that nothing or no one will take her dream wedding day away from her. Kyle’s friends organise a stag party for him on the eve of the great event: an evening in Las Vegas with drink, drugs and the inevitable striptease. The fun comes to a premature end when the lady suddenly breathes her last during an interlude with one of Kyle’s friends in the bathroom. Panic all round. They don’t want to call the cops, but try to gloss over the problem and resume their respectable life at home. Robert, the only one to keep his head, takes control and arranges the necessary measures, as if coping with a bad deal in his real estate firm. The solutions he offers to keep the incident quiet soon turn bizarre. But he meets his match in Laura, who is not planning to allow her big day to be ruined by a minor setback.The film excels in biting humour, idiotic situations and a mixture of typical male-bonding manipulation and deliberate bad taste. In leading roles we see Daniel Stern and Jeanne Tripplehorn alongside super-star Cameron Diaz and Christian Slater.