That breakout dude-centric comedy of the Summer we’ve been waiting for has finally arrived. The Hangover, directed by Todd Phillips and starring Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis, is exactly what we all need to kick off the Summer comedy movie season. If you’re looking for a great little flick that pretty much everyone over 18 can enjoy (I only say this because of the R rating), then this is definitely worth checking out. I’ll set up my personal viewing situation for a second and then start the review. That way everyone will understand where I’m coming from with this. A buddy of mine just returned from Vegas this week. Armed with stories of debauchery and sin, needless to say, a group of friends and I are hell bent of finding a way there before the end of the Summer. So even before watching this flick, I had the itch to venture down to Sin City and create some of my own ridiculousness.
The Hangover was made for crowds thinking similar thoughts. The heart of the story is friendship, but the journey getting there is where the entertainment lies. Director Todd Phillips had a genius-like breakout with one of his first films Old School. Widely known today as a staple in comedy, Phillips understands that within gross and situational humor, always lies the story of a relationships. This is something you could tell from the very beginning of The Hangover – the fact that this wasn’t a story about Vegas, it was a story about camaraderie.
The Hangover follows the tale of four guys as they venture to Las Vegas for a stag. Three of them are very close friends, while one will be the newly aquired brother in law. The film itself never really shows what happens throughout their party night, instead it focuses on them discovering what they actually did. This type of stoytelling is actually quite clever. Phillips leaves the audience constantly wondering what happened and eagerly waiting for the gang to uncover the next clue. The reason they have to assemble the story themselves is because at some point in the evening they lost the groom to be.
I never thought that finding a cast of actors to pull off a Vegas trip flick would be difficult, but after watching The Hangover I can really appreciate good casting. This is probably the first time I’ve ever seen Bradley Cooper really capture a starring role. Sure he pulled off the aloof journalist in Midnight Meat Train and various other co-starring roles such as Wedding Crashers, but this was the first time I’ve ever seen him really take the reigns of a role and embrace the layers of a dude looking to go balls out in Vegas. Ed Helms was also perfectly cast. He played the straight and narrow buddy throughout and actually has the biggest arc, or change in the film. Many Office fans will recognize him from the NBC series, but this is one of the first times you’ll be able to see him really let loose. Finally, Zach Galifianakis. He’s new to the movie screen, but he’s quite an accomplished comedian and has graced the small screen on shows like Reno 911 and Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job. Galifianakis plays the soon to be brother in law and essentially the black sheep of the group. None of the other guys, save the groom really know him so for his character, The Hangover is really a story of discovery. His comedic timing is Will Ferrell-esque and some of the sight gags he can pull off are hilarious. If any actor can say The Hangover is their break-out flick, it’s Zach Galifianakis.
The movie isn’t all 100% awesome though. There are some major holes and some minor instances where things dip into the Family Guy world of too random. For instance, there is no explanation of how the gang loses their original car and how they gain a cop car. That alone could have countless stories attached, but is never really addressed. Also, the movie stars Mike Epps – funny man from All About The Benjamins and Next Friday, but he’s really only in the flick for about 5 minutes. The same goes for Jeffery Tambor from Arrested Development. The story really could have expanded on these two alone especially knowing their comedic history.
All in all, I would give The Hangover 7 Penguins out of 10 on the scale. It’s a great flick to kick off the Summer, but I don’t think its in the realm of Old School or even Van Wilder, but who knows? I would expect the unrated DVD version to be much more entertaining. Also, props to Mike Tyson for playing his part and playing it… alright I guess. At times it was difficult to understand what he was saying, but his pressence was definitely felt.
