The Hangover (2009)Starring: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha, Heather Graham, Jeffrey Tambor, Ken Jeong, Rachel Harris
The Hangover was really the surprise packet of 2009. It came out without all that much fanfare, and lacking the big names of other 2009 comedies like Funny People and Couples Retreat, but ended up cracking the top 10 for the year at the international box office, with it's US$461.6million trumping notable blockbusters like Star Trek, X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.
Four friends, Phil (Cooper), Stu (Helms), Alan (Galifianakis) and Doug (Bartha) head to Las Vegas for a night of drunken debauchery to celebrate Doug's bachelor party. The next morning Phil, Stu and Alan awake in their trashed villa with no memory of the events of the night before to find that the groom-to-be Doug is missing. The trio are now in a race against the clock to find out what they got up to the previous night in the hope that it will lead them to their missing friend in time to get him back for his wedding.
There are few more tired and cliched topics for comedy than the bachelor party. Comedies about a group of men getting blind drunk and getting up to mischief with strippers, drugs, hookers, etc are a dime a dozen and usually pass by completely unnoticed. That being the case, when it first arrived at the box office The Hangover was treated with a fair bit of scepticism. But what screenwriters Jon Lucas and Scott Moore (of Four Holidays and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past fame) did to make things work here was to completely bypass the drunken party. After a brief prologue, the film really begins when the trio awake in their villa the morning after. So rather than a dime-a-dozen bachelor party movie, what we actually have here is a keenly disguised detective story. The three leads play both the investigators and the subject of the investigation as they go from location to location in search of clues as to just what they got up to last night in the hope that it may lead them to their missing friend. This different approach enables The Hangover to avoid many of the cliches you fear when you first see approach the film.
Four friends, Phil (Cooper), Stu (Helms), Alan (Galifianakis) and Doug (Bartha) head to Las Vegas for a night of drunken debauchery to celebrate Doug's bachelor party. The next morning Phil, Stu and Alan awake in their trashed villa with no memory of the events of the night before to find that the groom-to-be Doug is missing. The trio are now in a race against the clock to find out what they got up to the previous night in the hope that it will lead them to their missing friend in time to get him back for his wedding.
There are few more tired and cliched topics for comedy than the bachelor party. Comedies about a group of men getting blind drunk and getting up to mischief with strippers, drugs, hookers, etc are a dime a dozen and usually pass by completely unnoticed. That being the case, when it first arrived at the box office The Hangover was treated with a fair bit of scepticism. But what screenwriters Jon Lucas and Scott Moore (of Four Holidays and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past fame) did to make things work here was to completely bypass the drunken party. After a brief prologue, the film really begins when the trio awake in their villa the morning after. So rather than a dime-a-dozen bachelor party movie, what we actually have here is a keenly disguised detective story. The three leads play both the investigators and the subject of the investigation as they go from location to location in search of clues as to just what they got up to last night in the hope that it may lead them to their missing friend. This different approach enables The Hangover to avoid many of the cliches you fear when you first see approach the film.
What really makes this film work is the chemistry between the trio of alpha male Phil, the anxious, whipped dentist Stu and the oddball brother in law Alan. The banter between them is natural, unforced and hilarious. In particular The Hangover looks like it could be the career turning point for Bradley Cooper and Zach Galifianakis. Cooper had been around for a while, I recognised him from his supporting role in Wedding Crashers, but this film showed he has real star quality, and landing a lead role in The A-Team reboot could be the beginning of bigger and better things for him. Galifianakis seemed to come out of absolutely nowhere to be the scene stealer of The Hangover. The classic beardy wierdy, he had been working in films just as long as Cooper but with a much lower profile. He's already locked in to provide the voice of Humpty Dumpty in Puss in Boots, and has supporting roles in a number of upcoming comedies. It will take a few more The Hangover-style flashes of brilliance before Galifianakis can really crack Hollywood's comedy A-list, but he is definitely on the radar now.
The one thing which really didn't work for me in this film was the cameo from Mike Tyson. He did not seem comfortable or natural in front of the camera and it just wasn't all that funny. It just felt really gimmicky, like they were looking for something to create a bit of talk around the film (he did feature prominently in the movie's previews). Oh, and I'll butt onto that a second thing which didn't work for me, Ken Jeong's character. Again, didn't really bring anything to the fold.
The Hangover was easily the comedy of the year in 2009. Even if you are growing a bit tired of the Frat-Pack/Judd Apatow style of comedy we've been overwhelmed with over the last few years, there is enough originality in this one to make it worth a look. It is a very funny film, though some of the humour is a bit crude so if that's not your style, be warned (though really, the MA rating for coarse language and strong sexual references should be warning enough).
The Hangover was easily the comedy of the year in 2009. Even if you are growing a bit tired of the Frat-Pack/Judd Apatow style of comedy we've been overwhelmed with over the last few years, there is enough originality in this one to make it worth a look. It is a very funny film, though some of the humour is a bit crude so if that's not your style, be warned (though really, the MA rating for coarse language and strong sexual references should be warning enough).
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