Film: The Hangover

STARRING: Bradley Cooper (Wedding Crashers, Alias ); Ed Helms (The Office); Zach Galifianakis (Tru Calling)
DIRECTOR: Todd Phillips (Old School, Starsky & Hutch, Road Trip)
WRITERS: Jon Lucas & Scott Moore (Four Christmases)
PLOT: Three groomsmen wake up from an outrageous bachelor party that they have absolutely no memory of. And the groom is missing.

FIVE OBSERVATIONS
4 What makes this film work is the chemistry of the lead characters. All three of them are so different from each other, but they have an instant rapport. This male bonding reminded me a lot of Old School, also directed by Phillips.
4 Great tight cast. Bradley Cooper has paid his dues in a lot of films, so it’s great to see him take the lead. Also it’s fun to see Ed Helms outside of The Office. But in the end, it’s Zach Galifianakis that steals the show as the weird brother-in-law. He’s going to make it big soon.
4 Half the fun of The Hangover is trying to figure out what actually happened the night before. I had just as good a time figuring things out as I did enjoying the humourous situations these groomsmen found themselves in. And just so the audience isn’t left hanging, we get to catch a glimpse what actually did happen over in the night with a series of photos that run alongside the closing credits. You could tell they had fun posing for the outrageous pics.
4 Because it’s Todd Phillips and because it’s the comedy norm these days, along with the laughs comes the inevitable raunchiness. It is a bachelor party after all. There are a few disturbing scenes thrown into the mix. It’s too bad really, another film that I have a hard time recommending to most people. Also I can only look at Helms' broken teeth for so long.
4 The Hangover is definitely a guy movie. It’s full of male humour, bodily functions and such. With I Love You Man, Star Trek and now The Hangover, this year’s crop of films are definitely being aimed at the male population. Take that Sex in the City: The Movie.

RECOMMENDATION
Wait for DVD
(Nothing really cinematic about it)

COMING SOON
Taking of Pelham 123, Transformers 2