Director: Todd Phillips
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms & Zach Galifianakis
A highly entertaining comedy that, despite all appearances, proves to be very funny thanks to its new approach to old comedy formulas and the chemistry of its cast.
On first glance, The Hangover might not appear to offer much that hasn’t been seen before in the bachelor party sub-genre of comedy films. Its cast are the groom Doug (Justin Bartha) and his three best men consisting of alpha-male Phil (Cooper), square and hardworking Stu (Helms) and slacker Alan (Galifianakis) and the plot revolves around Doug’s bachelor party going wrong in the familiar location of Las Vegas. The events involve the familiar vices of drugs, alcohol, gambling and strippers. However, where The Hangover impresses is in its approach to the telling of such a tale and it is this approach along with the performances of its cast that makes The Hangover more entertaining than the usual Bachelor Party comedy.
After taking their friend Doug to Las Vegas for his Bachelor Party, groomsmen Phil, Stu and Alan awake in their hotel room to find the room wrecked, a baby lying in the closet, a tiger in the bathroom, their friend Doug missing and no memory between them of any of the events of the preceding night thanks to a memory erasing date rape drug they they’d all been given. With little to go on to find their friend beyond a hospital bracelet on Phil’s arm, the baby in the closet and a police car checked into the hotel car park as their own, the three men must piece together the events of the night they can’t remember in the hopes of finding their missing friend. Their search sees them cross paths with doctors, irate police officers, Mike Tyson, a stripper wearing a wedding ring belonging to Stu and an effeminate gangster (Ken Jeong).
The approach to the storyline, skipping the actual events of the night before to show us the aftermath and leaving both the audience and the characters unaware of what has occurred makes The Hangover very interesting as well as very funny and also makes the characters and their situation far more relatable to the audience as how many people have had celebrations where they were unable to recall some, or all, of the events of the night before? As well as comedy, The Hangover is therefore also a bit of a mystery as audience and characters alike try to piece together the clues that allow us to picture what the night before might have been like with the teases offered allowing audiences to, perhaps, imagine an evening more entertaining than any that could have been shown. At the same time, the search itself is very entertaining with the events and confrontations our cast face as they face the consequences of their actions. These consequences involve a very painful public service before a classroom full of children, a surprising encounter with what is found in the trunk of their car, making amends with a singing Mike Tyson over the theft of his pet tiger and a card game that parodies the film Rain Man to great effect. The Hangover, even in its new take on and old formula, does still adhere to some old formula as its cast, despite being well performed, fall into old stereotypes and the familiar encounters of gambling, drugs and strippers are all present despite the different approach to each of them. So while The Hangover is not quite as original as it could be, what originality that is present elevates the comedy.
The Hangover also succeeds in entertaining thanks to the effort of its cast. Avoiding better known comedy actors, the lead cast consists of actors better known for bit parts or for their TV work. Bradley Cooper (TV’s Alias and Kitchen Confidential) demonstrates leading man appeal as Phil, the more level headed of the three groomsman. Whilst having the least challenging of the three main roles, Cooper is still gives an enjoyable performance and shows himself capable of comedy in addition to his previous dramatic work. Ed Helms (US TV’s The Office) is enjoyably neurotic and performs admirably as the straightest of straight men in this scenario even panicking over his marriage to a well-meaning stripper despite his partner back home being unfaithful and abusive. Most memorable is Galifianakis as the dim-witted, bearded brother-in-law Alan whose slacker nature leads to him getting the best lines and almost effortlessly winning over audiences despite his many deficiencies. Bartha is dependable and likeable as the missing Groom Doug, Heather Graham is lovable and perky as the kindest stripper in Las Vegas, Ken Jeong steals many scenes as an effeminate gangster out for revenge against our groomsmen and Mike Tyson’s appearance is both hilarious and cringe-worthy in equal measure.
Overall, despite some familiar clichés sneaking in and a typically guy-friendly approach to its story and characters, The Hangover is still highly entertaining due to what original approaches to its story that it does take, some very funny lines and situations and the enjoyable performances of its cast and their chemistry together. Certainly one of the better comedies of 2009 and stay for the end credits featuring a photo montage as funny as anything within the film itself.
Rating: 4/5
