With 1992’s Honeymoon in Vegas, we go back almost 20 years to a period in which Nicolas Cage still came across as an interesting, entertaining actor. At least, that’s what I thought back then – not having seen the flick since then, I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about it today. But I liked it then, so I thought I’d give it another take.

On his mother’s (Anne Bancroft) deathbed, Jack Singer (Cage) promises her that he’ll never get married. (Why does she make this request? She’s territorial with her son, I guess.) Four years later, Jack finds himself in love with Betsy Nolan (Sarah Jessica Parker) but in agreement with his dead mother; Jack works as a private detective who specializes in cheating cases, so those lead him to view marriage as a minefield to be avoided.

This eventually has an impact on the relationship, as Betsy grows more and more distant. Jack decides that he needs to put up or shut up, so he finally caves and proposes to Betsy. Jack thinks they should go ahead and do the deed right away, so they fly out to Las Vegas the next day.

Which they do, and their arrival coincides with that of Tommy Korman (James Caan), a big-time gambler in town to ply his trade. Tommy happens to see Betsy and feels stunned by her resemblance to Donna, his late, lost love.

Tommy badly wants to spend time with Betsy, so he contrives to bring Jack into a poker game. Inevitably, Jack loses – and loses big, as he ultimately owes Tommy $65,000.

Of course, Jack can’t pay this, so Tommy provides a solution. If Jack lets Tommy spend the weekend with Betsy, he’ll erase the debt. If not – curtains! Jack and Betsy agree to this deal, which drives Jack nuts – and gives Tommy a few days to convince Betsy to be with him instead of her fiancé.

As I noted earlier, I felt quite entertained by Vegas almost 20 years ago, so I was curious to see how it’d work for me. The answer? Okay, though not well enough to remind me why I liked it so much in 1992.

I suspect some of that comes from the disenchantment I’ve derived from Cage’s work since 1992. He’s always been an acquired taste; with his mannerisms and quirks, he delivers oddball choices in his performance. 20 years ago, I loved his shtick, whereas now, I’m less wild about his work. Though that doesn’t mean I dis Cage’s turn here – I just don’t find him to be as refreshing and delightful as I did in the past.

That said, Cage does manage to bring some life to a flick that could otherwise be pretty weak. The movie offers little plot and comes across more as a story notion than anything else. It’s essentially a wacky riff on Indecent Proposal that embraces its quirks at every turn.

If you like those choices, you’ll like Vegas. Obviously they worked for me 20 years ago, but now I’m less wild about them – especially the climax with skydiving Elvis impersonators. That seemed funny in 1992 but now comes across as such a desperate attempt at wackiness that it leaves me cold.

Still, despite a thin plot, sitcom-level characters and some awfully broad comedy, Vegas has its moments. Maybe it’s just nostalgia talking, but I think the film offers acceptable entertainment – if you dig vintage Nic Cage, at least. If not, it’s a flick to avoid.

Honeymoon in Vegas appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.851 on this Blu-Ray Disc. This was a dated but watchable presentation.

Sharpness was one of the inconsistent elements. At times, the movie was able to display good delineation, but some of it veered toward mild mushiness. Though the flick was never really soft, it lacked much crispness or bite.

No issues with jagged edges or shimmering materialized, and I sensed no edge haloes. Source flaws were an occasional problem, though, as the movie suffered from a mix of specks, spots and marks. These weren’t heavy, but they popped up consistently throughout the film.

Colors seemed up and down. Some shots displayed nice vivacity, while others came across as flat and muddy. They seemed decent overall but lacked consistency. Blacks were adequate, and shadows showed acceptable clarity, though a few were rather murky. Nothing here looked awful, but the image betrayed its roots and was consistently mediocre.

The DTS-HD MA 2.0 soundtrack of Vegas was also pretty average for its era. The soundscape opened up the environment best during the Vegas scenes, as those gave the casinos a good sense of place. Other sequences with planes, beaches and livelier elements also brought out a nice feel for the locations and demonstrated a reasonable sense of engagement. Nothing especially exciting occurred, but the track gave the movie some life.

Audio quality was dated but fine. Speech seemed a little reedy but was intelligible and reasonably natural. Music showed pretty good pep and range. Effects were occasionally a bit on the rough side, but they showed fair clarity overall. Though this was never a great track, it was adequate for its age and genre.

Don’t expect much in the way in extras here. We find the film’s trailer - and that’s it.

Almost 20 years ago, I thought Honeymoon in Vegas was a hoot. Today? I think it’s okay. It has some moments of amusement but is awfully hit or miss. The Blu-ray delivers inconsistent but acceptable picture and audio; it includes virtually no supplements. We find a decent Blu-ray for a sporadically entertaining flick.