The Hangover (2009)
Sunday, July 26th, 2009The first trailers for this movie looked like just another raunchy comedy about stupid man-children doing stupid things, a perfect description of director Todd Phillips’s previous film, Old School, which I thought was hilarious. As expected, ‘The Hangover’ turned out to be a smart, funny comedy about real characters with real growth, and although the situations may have been a bit outlandish, it was never so crazy as to put me off the film.
Without a doubt, this is the best comedy I’ve seen yet this year. And I have seen a few, including ‘I love you, Man’ and ‘The boat that rocked’
The Hangover features four guys going to Las Vegas for a bachelor party: everyman groom Doug (Justin Bartha), his slick buddy Phil (Bradley Cooper), harried Stu (Ed Helms), and Doug’s soon-to-be brother-in-law Andy (Zach Galifanakis). After a rooftop toast, Phil, Stu, and Andy wake up the next morning to find their hotel room trashed, minor injuries all over their bodies, their memories of the previous night gone, and Doug missing. Most of the film centres on their efforts to recreate the events of the bachelor party and find Doug in time to get him to his wedding. You can actually feel the pressure as if you were there!
Some of the discoveries aren’t too far-fetched – a missing tooth, for instance. Others, like what they find in the bathroom or what they get when the valet brings their car around, start to stretch the bounds of credability. Somehow, though, I found myself willing to accept even the craziest things, and I think the key lies in the beginning of the film. The writers and director took the time to let us get to know the guys, and actually like the guys, before things go nuts. If I didn’t genuinely like Doug, I wouldn’t have cared if they found him. If I didn’t feel for Stu, his panic over his overbearing girlfriend (Rachael Harris) would come across as cliché. Even Andy treads a careful line between being creepy and being someone who’s an object of pity, someone that you root for in a bizarre way.
As the guys begin to peel back the layers to discover what happened in the time they lost, we stumble into increasingly goofy and entertaining situations, and despite the trailers, there’s actually very little raunchy comedy in this movie. There’s some, mind you, but it isn’t wall-to-wall like a lot of movies of this type, and that’s a big plus. Perhaps even more important, this isn’t a film where the guys end in the same place they began. There’s genuine growth and character development, and a nice payoff at the end where you cheer for one of them as he takes control of his life.
This is a really strong comedy, built on a good script and supported by wonderful performances by the three main actors. I didn’t expect to even like this movie that much as I thought the best bits would have been in the trailer, but I was so so wrong, I walked out of the theater laughing, recalling favorite scenes, and ready to see the movie again. What more could you want out of a comedy?
For those of you interested… Here is the trailer!
I rate this Movie… 5/5 Penguins!
