Starring: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifanakis, Justin Bartha, and Heather Graham
Run Time: 1 hr 40 mins
Plot Synopsis: Doug is about to be married, so his friends — Stu, a dentist planning on proposing to his girlfriend of three years, Phil, a schoolteacher bored of the married life, and Doug’s soon to be brother-in-law Alan, who is smart yet socially-inept — take him to Las Vegas for a bachelor party. The guys get a suite at their hotel, then sneak on to the roof of the hotel and toast to the night ahead. Skipping forward to the next morning, the three groomsmen awake with no memory of the previous night. They find Doug missing, Stu missing a tooth, a tiger in the bathroom, and a baby in the closet. With no memories of what transpired, they set off to piece the night back together and find their friend Doug.
For some reason, The Hangover was a film that slipped completely under the radar for me until the trailer was released. As soon as I saw that trailer, I knew I had to see the film. Anyone else who has seen it could tell you that it makes the movie look outrageous, and showcases tons of potential. Most of the films I’ve been watching lately have been sci-fi or action films, so I really needed a good comedy to shake things up a bit. When I went to the theater to check out The Hangover, I expected a few laughs and a few gross-out moments. I never thought the movie would turn out to be, well, what it turned out to be. This is one of the most crude, disgusting, brilliant and hilarious comedies I’ve seen since Superbad. If you don’t mind your comedy “a little graphic,” then you’ll want to check out The Hangover.
I loved the casting in this film. Bradley Cooper is a great comedic actor who brings subtle wit and sarcasm to every character I’ve seen him play. There were some rumors that he was in consideration to play the Green Lantern, a super hero who brings the sarcasm and hot-shot attitude. He would’ve been perfect, as I think he would be for The Flash as well. Hopefully, he gets one of those “big time” roles soon. I’ve been following Ed Helms’ career since he was on The Daily Show with John Stewart. He is far and away one of the funniest characters on tv right now, and he plays the loveable dimwit part well. I was excited to see him in what appeared to be a large role, and he did not disappoint me. His character, Stu, was a guy I could personally relate to, and I’m pretty sure there are a lot of people who would see that character and instantly relate with him as well. Everyone knows a cautious guy like Stu who just needs to lash out and go a little crazy from time to time. But as great as Cooper and Helms were, they couldn’t even come close to what Zach Galifanakis did with his character, Alan. This guy was the epitome of ridiculous, and my absolute favorite character of the film. Mark my words, Galifanakis’ Alan will be an instantly classic character, and a nearly endless supply of laughs and “what the hell?” moments. If you’ve ever seen him do any standup, you know how funny this guy is. Easily the strongest character of the film; it simply would’nt have worked without Galifanakis’ blissful ignorance.
As a trio, the characters all played off each other well and had many memorable interactions. As important as it was for the actors to pull off those characters, they would’nt have been funny without the brilliant writing of Jon Lucas and Scott Moore. They crafted three very well defined characters, and set them up in enough outrageous situations (both alone and all three together) to keep you in stitches throughout the film. The humor ranged from the soft and subtle to the outrageous and obscure, and everything in between. Important to keep in mind though, is that this movie is not for the faint of heart. It is very very graphic, and to give you an idea of some of the things they could get away with in this film, they touched on three different types of sex (gay, interracial, bestiality) and there was a shot where Galifanakis was receiving… oral sex from an elderly hotel maid, complete with what appeared to be an erect penis. It turns out that it is just a very real looking sex toy, but I was shocked nonetheless. If crude, “drunken college fratboy” style humor offends you, steer clear of this movie.
From beginning to end, the film was set up perfectly and stuck to it’s very simple yet hilarious premise. Just three hungover guys stumbling around Las Vagas in search of clues as to where their missing friend is. Oh, and the origin of a mysterious baby and a real freaking tiger, along with all the other insanity they discovered when they woke up with the film’s namesake Hangover. Simple, but oh so sweet. I’ll never forget one simple scene early in the film, when the three are just sitting around a table trying to piece together their evening based on what they found that morning, their own clothes, and their hazy memories. It was a great example of just how smart this film is. It’s one of my all time great comedy moments.
The Hangover is a crude and disgusting slam dunk. If you are into that sort of thing, you can’t go wrong with this film. I laughed until my face was red and I was nearly in tears. The script was well written, the characters were well portrayed, and the story flowed seamlessly from joke to joke. This is the best comedy of 2009 so far, hands down. If you don’t mind crude and raunchy humor, The Hangover is the can’t miss movie of the year.