I watched ‘What Happens In Vegas’ on the weekend – what a great movie. I was watching it, and I really enjoyed the end part when, as they credits role, they go through what actually happened the night the two main characters, Jack (played by Ashton Kutcher) and Joy (played by Camera Diaz), actually got married and begun the entire plot of the movie.
I realise that there are a few movies that run under this formula, the ‘Hangover’ trilogy being one of them. I think it’s a great way to build mystery and intrigue within a movie, and then maintain that mystery.
Throughout the entire movie (the Hangover especially) the audience is kept guessing about what actually happened, and they know as much as the characters themselves. Another take on this that I have found, is used for comical benefit, (cringe comedy), when something is revealed to the audience and not the character, and the audience watches as the character slowly realise what they have already known. For example in ‘Rush Hour 2’, Carter (played by Chris Tucker) is talking to two Karate Master’s who’s names are Mi and Yu. For the benefit of the joke, subtitles are put on to show the audience the different spelling, but obviously Carter has no way of knowing and so the joke goes on as he tries to talk to them and ask for their names.

I think it’s quite clever when movies pull off either of these ideas. I think the first works really well because while it keeps them watching and guessing what actually happened, they are not left feeling like they haven’t finished the movie at the end. They do get that final bit of closure and find out what actually happened without ruining the plot of the movie. The latter works purely for comical relief. It also makes the audience feel special in that they know what is happening and it makes them more inclined to enjoy it as they are ‘in’ on the joke.

But what I really love about realising this little factor when I was watching ‘What Happens In Vegas’, is that even my favourite movies can be brought into the context of learning.