The Hangover
My only complaint about The Hangover is that so many excellent moments were ruined by the preview. The premise is simple: dudes go to Vegas to party, overdo it and have no memory of it, and must get back to reality intact. Except for the total memory loss, we’ve seen this movie before – or at least the beginning of it – and that’s the point. Every road trip/college party/spring break/decadent Vegas vacation/last hurrah movie in the world starts out “wheee!” goes through “holy crap!” and ends up “whew!” What’s great about the Hangover is that these guys went hoping to have the implied promise of Best Time Ever, and surprised themselves going so far overboard that they have a huge mess to clean up. Paying the piper is a bitch, especially when you’re not sure what exactly you hired him to do, and why he’s passed out in your mother’s bed wearing a chicken outfit.
To be fair, I probably wouldn’t have seen this movie except for the many unanswered questions posted by the spoilers in the preview – so some spoiling was necessary bait, to be sure. And there are plenty of things you don’t know about going in, and will be hilariously surprised by. It’s fun to watch these guys pick through clues (from randomly wacky sources, ‘nuff said) to find out when X happened, who Y is, where Z went. They had a very limited about of time to get into the troubles they did – I’m not sure I could manage one-fifth of it with a map and a Red Bull-espresso IV drip. Their adventures are the kind of Vegas Legendary Troubles you would expect – think cops, strippers, celebrities, injuries, peeing – blown to ridiculous proportion. The stakes are high, the calls are close, the laughs are many, and the guys are funny. Even the epilogue has some big laughs. It’s so vulgar and yet these guys are so feckless and lost you can’t even work up a good head of consternation over how they got into their plight.
Any movie like this requires the careful chemistry of the stars. Usually cast in other movies as the secondary support, these actors finally get a welcome chance to stretch their legs here. Bradley Cooper is the alpha male and probable ringleader (motives will remain a mystery forever). Zach Galifianakis is a little too weird, too lonerish, too clueless, but he does have a lovable streak. If he had been less of an outsider in general, it would have been easier to imagine him as a confederate, but he makes Jeff from the TV show Chuck seem mainstream. Ed Helms shines out the most from perennial supporting stooge to great character. His Stu gets the only real story arc that isn’t just about what happened last night, and it is not wasted on him. Emasculated by a harpy girlfriend (the always-spicy Rachael Harris), barely able to register his own unhappiness, Helms (off camera) gets to ride the unicorn to a new existence thanks to this terrible, wonderful trip. And crap, we always knew he was funny, but he! Is! Funny! Bring on Leslie Chow to please the homophobes and racists in the audience. After his turn in Role Models it’s coming up time for him to get some more screen time (and he will be in Couples Retreat, so hooray).
The Hangover is very funny. Don’t bring a family member and don’t try any of this at home.
MPAA Rating R-pervasive language, sexual content including nudity, & some drug material.
Release date 6/5/09
Time in minutes 100
Director Todd Phillips
Studio Warner Brothers
