A VERY GOOD `VERY BAD THINGS'.Byline: Bob Strauss Daily News Film Critic In the last couple of months, we've had the yuppie black comedy ``Your Friends and Neighbors,'' the cowboy black comedy ``Clay Pigeons,'' the psychosexual psychosexual /psy·cho·sex·u·al/ (-sek´shoo-al) pertaining to the mental or emotional aspects of sex. psy·cho·sex·u·al adj. Of or relating to the mental and emotional aspects of sexuality. black comedy ``Happiness'' and, today, the who-got-Drew-Barrymore-pregnant? black comedy ``Home Fries.'' Clearly, this whole subgenre sub·gen·re n. A subcategory within a particular genre: The academic mystery is a subgenre of the mystery novel. of outrageous sexuality, over-the-top violence and runaway misanthropy Misanthropy Misbehavior (See MISCHIEVOUSNESS.) Ahab, Captain consumed by hate, pursues whale that ripped off his leg. [Am. Lit.: Moby Dick] Alceste antisocial hero. [Fr. Lit. is getting pretty tired. It needs a shot in the arm, creatively speaking, now that shotgun blasts to the head and nether regions have lost their provocative edge. Good timing, then, for Peter Berg's black comedy on steroids, ``Very Bad Things.'' A ferociously offensive, often hilarious, nonstop screech of a movie, it has two things going for it that the others don't: an absurd moral core and absolutely no manners. Berg, an actor on the ``Chicago Hope'' television series, wrote his feature directing debut out of, he says, a sense of deep disappointment with the institution of marriage. ``VBF'' indeed plays like a groom-to-be's most psychotic jitters jitters 'Butterflies' Psychology An episode of nervousness or anxiety that often precedes a public event; jitters is a type of performance anxiety which may affect actors in a stage production–stage fright or soloist musicians; it may respond to anxiolytics , but there's more going on here than that. While Berg spins the film around a thoroughly unoriginal plot nub See newbie. - bachelor party turns ugly when the stripper gets killed - the ever-escalating complications he's dreamt up are not only audacious, they've got real psychological resonance. Everyone behaves despicably, but at least Berg tries, with bludgeoning commitment, to make us understand why. Off for a last, necessary fling in Vegas before marrying the self-absorbed, high-maintenance Laura (Cameron Diaz, doing the polar opposite of her ultra-appealing ``Something About Mary'' act), likable lunk Lunk can refer to either of the following two fictional people from the universe:
adj. In plentiful supply; abundant: "There were warning signs aplenty for their candidates as well" Michael Gelb. with his buds: battling brothers Michael (Jeremy Piven) and Adam (Daniel Stern), quiet oddball Charles (Leland Orser) and take-charge real-estate creep Robert (Christian Slater). Truly - if unaccountably - in love with Laura, Kyle demurs when the evening's entertainment (porn actress Kobe Tai, evidently thrilled to be in a misogynistic mi·sog·y·nis·tic also mi·sog·y·nous adj. Of or characterized by a hatred of women. Adj. 1. misogynistic - hating women in particular misogynous ill-natured - having an irritable and unpleasant disposition movie that wasn't shot on videotape) offers extra pleasures for a price. Doesn't matter, though; in this movie's sado-puritan view of the universe, guilt by association Noun 1. guilt by association - the attribution of guilt (without proof) to individuals because the people they associate with are guilty guilt, guiltiness - the state of having committed an offense deserves as much punishiment as multiple mortal sins. Anyway, dismemberment dismemberment /dis·mem·ber·ment/ (dis-mem´ber-ment) amputation of a limb or a portion of it. dismemberment amputation of a limb or a portion of it. and midnight burials in the desert ensue, but our party boys make it back to Southern California uncaught. Except, that is, in the inescapable prison of their own minds. With a fatalistic fa·tal·ism n. 1. The doctrine that all events are predetermined by fate and are therefore unalterable. 2. Acceptance of the belief that all events are predetermined and inevitable. vengeance, guilt and paranoia eat away at the guys, leading to breakdowns, vehicular malfeasance and lots of unnecessary violence. Meanwhile, nothing is going to prevent Laura from having the perfect wedding. No one is safe here. Moms, crippled kids, minorities, self-motivation experts - even that most sacred of movie characters, the family dog - are all fair game for Berg's vicious humor. Marry that to escalating, graphic brutality and ``Very Bad Things'' is obviously not going to play well with delicate souls. Expect many strong stomachs to be turned by it as well. But if you're going to make a black comedy these days, there's no point if you don't take it to the wall. Berg does, at 100 miles an hour, with all brake lines cut. ``Very Bad Things'' is totally nasty, with no apologies, no quarter given and a truly subversive spirit, not just an entertaining facsimile of subversiveness. It's an exercise in immensely poor taste that, at its very best moments, makes you question your fundamental assumptions of what taste should be. THE FACTS The film: ``Very Bad Things'' (R; violence, sex, nudity, drug use, language, children in jeopardy). The stars: Christian Slater, Cameron Diaz, Jon Favreau, Daniel Stern, Jeremy Piven, Jeanne Tripplehorn. Behind the scenes: Written and directed by Peter Berg. Produced by Michael Schiffer, Diane Nabatoff and Cindy Cowan. Released by PolyGram Films. Running time: One hour, 41 minutes. Playing: Citywide. Our rating: Three and one half stars. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: Christian Slater and Cameron Diaz star in the black comedy ``Very Bad Things,'' about a bachelor party gone bad in Las Vegas. |
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