Kids will enjoy the dinosaurs, gaudy prehistoric decor, and cartoon humour of
The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas; but adults will find fewer morsels of entertainment, although the sly performance of Alan Cumming (
Eyes Wide Shut) as the Great Gazoo, an alien sent to Earth to observe human mating behaviour is a highlight. The movie begins before Fred (Mark Addy from
The Full Monty) and Wilma (Kirsten Johnston from
Third Rock from the Sun) Flintstone ever met, back when Wilma was an unhappy rich girl seeking happiness in a less snobby environment. Running away from her smothering mother (Joan Collins!) and an oily suitor, Chip Rockefeller (Thomas Gibson from
Dharma and Greg), she winds up at a drive-in restaurant where she meets Betty (Jane Krakowski from
Ally McBeal), a waitress who thinks Wilma is actually homeless and invites the runaway to live with her. Our blue-collar heroes, Fred and Barney Rubble (Stephen Baldwin from
The Usual Suspects), ask the girls out on a double date, and before long Fred and Wilma bond over bowling. But it turns out that Chip is in debt to a ruthless loan shark and needs Wilma's money, so he invites the couples to his new casino in Rock Vegas, where he plots nefariously to ruin their blossoming love. The plot holds no surprises and the dialogue is clumsy, but there's a blithe dimwittedness to the whole affair that makes it curiously inoffensive. --
Bret Fetzer, Amazon.com
