The fear of failure is lurking menacingly near by. Very Bad Things is about the pressure cooker male bread winners are living in.
Even Kyle's Dad in the Toast To The Groom at the wedding refers vividly to his son's dismal failure as a school football player. There are continual references to being 'a loser' in the film. The pressures of keeping up with the Jones have had casualties. The residents have sold their souls for a white minivan and a posh wedding. And what about the pressures that go with paying the mortgage and keeping the wife happy? Very Bad Things finishes with a slow overhead shot of the suburb that has become hell for this lot. (Cameron Diaz is an astounding actress! Watch her eyes.) But what is " average" in these suburbs. The other dominant personality is the bride Laura played by Cameron Diaz (There's Something About Mary). He's into self fulfilment and asserting himself but is also the catalyst that tips these average men into horror. Robert Boyd is a Men's Support Group graduate. The boys are pretty average types really except for Robert Boyd (Christian Slater, who was let out of prison to do the shoot!!!). It's not how you play the game, but you must win. That same "let's get on with business, people don't matter" sort of morality that will allow a President to lie to Congress and get away with it, cricket champions to cheat and then be made Captain, politicians to sacrifice their citizens for the sake of overseas companies, and murder to be acceptable as long as no one finds out about it. The boys, and later, just as viciously the bride, take the pragmatic road. Accidentally the boys kill a prostitute in their hotel room and decide to hush it up, bury her in the desert to avoid the unpleasantness of an investigation. The bride stays home to continue the wedding preparations to plan her day of days.
Five male friends are off to Las Vegas for a stag party. It's about collateral damage: Friendly fire is liable to take out just about anyone in the suburbs if a wedding is at stake! It's about people who have lost heart, who have forgotten what's really important. Very Bad Things is a cautionary tale about the war of the sexes, the battle of consumerism. It's certainly not the comedy it's touted to be.
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