COMEDY - THE WRITERS: HONEYMOON IN VEGAS, WHITE MEN CAN'T JUMP© Sean Gallagher
Oct 21, 2003
When verbal comedy is at its best, we tend to think the actors made up their zingers right on the spot. Occasionally, this is true; the punchline at the end of the famous orgasm scene in WHEN HARRY MET SALLY - where an onlooker (Estelle Reiner, the director's mother) says to a waiter, "I'll have what she's having" - came not from writer Nora Ephron, but from star Billy Crystal. More often than not, of course, it isn't, and the way we pretend otherwise is obviously both a condescension and a celebration. Condescending, of course, because writers are already low enough on the totem pole of Hollywood as it is, especially when it comes to comedy (more often than not, multiple writers are credited on comedies). Celebration, of course, because while there are great lines that call attention to themselves, most come from the situation and the character, and if the line is good, that means a job well done by the writer. But what of comedies where the jokes come not so much from lines, or pratfalls (which have more to do with the star, or the director), but from tone, or simply a nutty point of view? Those comedies are definitely where the writer comes in, and Andrew Bergman's HONEYMOON IN VEGAS and Ron Shelton's WHITE MEN CAN'T JUMP are good examples of this. Probably what helps in each case is both Bergman and Shelton directed their own scripts, so they were able to protect them, and give their singular comic visions. Bergman came from working with Mel Brooks, and that sense of outlandishness has remained, though in different forms; Brooks definitely would have included jokes about THE GODFATHER in THE FRESHMAN, but only Bergman would have made those jokes so artful and funny at the same time. VEGAS is more a romantic comedy, and it's not as satisfying as THE FRESHMAN, but it's still entertaining. Nicolas Cage is Jack Singer, who promises his mother (Anne Bancroft) on her deathbed that he'll never get married. To ensure this, Jack has become a private eye specializing in divorce cases (like the man who insists his wife is sleeping with Mike Tyson). He does have a girlfriend, Betsy (Sarah Jessica Parker), who is growing impatient over his failure to commit. Finally, he agrees to marry her, and in order to make sure he doesn't change his mind, they go to Vegas to do it quickly. In Vegas, however, Betsy attracts the attention of Tommy Korman (James Caan), a gambler, who thinks Betsy resembles Tommy's dead wife Donna. Tommy quickly befriends the couple, and then invites the unsuspecting Jack up to his suite to play poker. Naturally, Jack falls behind by $56,000, which is when Tommy makes his move; he'll forgive the debt if Jack lets Tommy take Betsy away to Hawaii for the weekend. Betsy is naturally incensed, but when Tommy promises he won't make any moves on her, and she and Jack realize there's nothing to be done, she reluctantly agrees. That's when Jack realizes he's made a huge mistake, and follows them to try and get her back.
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