VERY BAD THINGS
The worst movie of 1998. 1998 had Species II.
Species II must step aside. Very Bad Things, which features a grand total of two good moments, is the worst movie I've had the misfortune of seeing on the big screen this year - yes, worse than I Still Know and The Replacement Killers.
I suppose that extra points must be awarded for the kernel of a good idea in the plot. Let's face it, if you saw it, like I did, it sounded like it could be a pretty sick, funny film, if done right. Well, it wasn't done right. Writer/director Peter Berg has been spending too much time on the ever-deteriorating "Chicago Hope", it would appear, as he's crafted a film almost completely devoid of wit, intelligence, and almost anything remotely worthwhile.
The movie's basically about a bunch of friends who go to Vegas for a bachelor party, snort enough cocaine to blow holes out the backs of their heads, and accidentally kill a hooker. They decide to cover up the crime, and of course this results in more murders.
What a stupid, childish, impossible to like movie this is. Not a single character has a single likeable characteristic. Not one! I mean, even despicable characters can be compelling in a well-crafted movie, but these guys are stupid, infantile, witless, and pretty much everything that makes a person intolerable to listen to.
I've heard claims that this movie was supposed to be disturbing on many levels, but you'd never know it from the film. No matter what's going on, Berg obviously wants you to laugh; he just has no idea how to make you do it. This means he's actually as bad a writer/director as he is an actor. This is no small feat.
It's been said that good black comedy makes dark and nasty things funny, and bad black comedy just assumes that they are. Very Bad Things makes that mistake in a big way. Seeing these guys strut in slo-mo down the hardware store aisle with shovels and power tools is very nice if you're looking for "homage", or something, but it doesn't actually make a joke. Much of the movie is composed of scenes like this, Berg just throwing things at you which I guess he's assuming are funny just because he thinks they are ("Hyuck hyuck! They're cutting her up with a saw!").
So we'd have to take those points for the base idea away for botching that idea so thoroughly. It's a zero-sum game, I guess.
Not only did this movie suck, but it pretty much ensures that no really good effort is going to be made at this kind of thing for a little while with a better writer on board. Oh well. At the very least, we did get to see a compelling drama arise from similar elements: A Simple Plan, which was 1998's best film. Wow. Best film, worst film. It's like symmetry.
It's not completely worthless, because Christian Slater (in, as usual, a really lousy performance) delivers one good line, and the sight of Jeanne Tripplehorn kicking his ass was marginally amusing. And I am relieved regarding the music; the trailers suggested that this would be loaded with swing music. Oh, it's loaded with bad music all right, but at least it's not swing.
Not entirely worthless, but perilously close. Really, I'd expect a better film than this from a four-year-old. Whether Peter Berg has any more maturity or sophistication than a four-year-old has yet to be demonstrated.