Click to play videoCast: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha, Heather Graham
Direction: Todd Phillips
I won't blame you if you're not particularly excited about the idea of watching another crass comedy involving a bachelor party gone wrong. Fair enough, it's not exactly the most original premise for a Hollywood film. Still, I'd urge you to take my word for it: The Hangover will have you in splits.
Three friends take their soon-to-be-married pal for the ultimate Vegas stag night, and after what could have only been a wild, wild night, they wake up the next morning in their hotel suite to find a tiger in the bathroom, a baby in the closet, and the groom nowhere to be found. Worse of all, neither of them can remember a thing.
Told in reverse, with our three leads piecing back the events of the previous night through whatever clues they can find, The Hangover is side-splittingly funny because it's sharply written, and because it avoids clichés for the most part by starting where most movies of this genre usually end.
The pace is fast and the jokes come at furious speed. You can only imagine the look on their faces when the valet brings them not the Mercedes they'd been driving but a police car they have no memory of stealing the previous night.
The Hangover works largely because the actors do wonders with their roles, and their chemistry is unbeatable. Bradley Cooper plays Phil, a married schoolteacher and the cocksure one of the three; Ed Helms stars as Stu, a nerdy dentist terrified of his bossy girlfriend, and the neurotic whiner in the group; while Zach Galifianakis steals the film as the groom's not-quite-there bearded brother-in-law-to-be, Alan. Their bickering and sparring and hilarious digs at each other is really the treasure of this film.
Justin Bartha plays the straight-arrow groom who must be found, and Heather Graham appears as the stripper who Ed Helms' character Stu discovers he married the previous night. All of these characters are like the catalysts thrown in to spark off our three leads.
Raucous and often lewd, this film pulls out all the stops in its mission to deliver never-ending laughs. Nothing is sacred, no joke is too offensive.
So if you're not embarrassed by breast-feeding gags and tigers being dry-humped, then don't stop to think – The Hangover is your best bet this weekend. Four out of five and two thumbs up. Go with your buddies, you'll laugh till you have tears in your eyes!
Rating: 4 / 5 (Very Good)
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