The Hangover

Release Date: June 5th, 2009

Click here for The Hangover Trailer.

When four guys get together for a bachelor party in Vegas, shenanigans ensue that none of them planned and that none of them can even remember.

Doug(Justin Bartha, National Treasure) is about to get married to the girls of his dreams, Tracy(Sasha Barrese). In celebration, Doug's friends Phil(Bradley Cooper, He's Just Not That Into You), a bored school teacher and Stu(Ed Helms, The Office), a dentist, take Doug, along with his future brother in-law Alan(Zach Galifianakis, What Happens in Vegas), an inept but rather smart individual, for a weekend of male debauchery in Sin City. When they arrive, they upgrade their room to a Villa suite and go up to get ready for a night on the town. Before they begin, they guys sneak up to the roof for a view of the Vegas strip and a little toast to Doug with some shots of Yeager.

The next morning, the guys wake up in their Villa, which has been completely trashed. The worst part is that none of them has any idea of what happened the night before. When they search the room for clues, they find some things they don't expect. They guys find a baby in the closet, a tiger in the bathroom, and they also realize that Doug is missing. When they can't find Doug anywhere in the hotel, they group gets worried and tries to retrace their steps from the night before, the steps none of them remember taking. Searching their pockets, the find some clues: Stu's missing tooth, an ATM receipt for $800, a VIP parking pass, and a medical bracelet on Phil's wrist from the local hospital. More confusion ensues when the valet brings the group, now accompanied by a baby, a police cruiser instead of the vintage BMW Alan's dad, Sid(Jeffery Tambor, Arrested Development) let them borrow for the trip. At the hospital, the guys realize that Stu, who is trying trying to keep this whole experience away from his controlling girlfriend Melissa(Rachel Harris, Desperate Housewives), got married the night before. When they go to the chapel, they realize that Stu married a stripper named Jade(Heather Graham, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me). When they go to Jade's apartment to get the marriage annulled, the find out that the baby is hers. When the guys are trying to figure out what else happened, two cops, the owners of the stolen cruiser the guys have been riding around in, bust in the door and arrest the guys. Making a deal where the guys test out stun guns for a group of kids, they are released from jail and get there BMW back from the impound lot, amazingly without a scratch on it. When they begin driving, they hear a banging sound coming from the trunk. Thinking it is Doug, the guys pull over and open the trunk. Instead of finding Doug, a very angry and very naked Chinese man, Mr. Chow(Ken Jeong, Roll Models) jumps from the trunk and beats up the three guys before running off.

The guys decide to go back to the villa to look for more clues. Upon arriving they find former boxing legend Mike Tyson, the owner of the mysterious tiger in the bathroom. Mike Tyson forces the guys to bring the tiger back to his home. Alan drugs the tiger with Ruffalin, or roofies, and the load it in the BMW for transport. When the tiger wakes up and destroys the inside of car, the guys are forced to push the last mile to Tyson's house. Once they arrive, Tyson shows the guys his security tapes from his cameras, which shows Doug with the group and still alive. Upon leaving Tyson's house, the group is crashed into by a big black SUV. Out steps Mr. Chow, who tells them that they have $80,000 in Belagio casino chips and that he has Doug. They guys are confused until they see a man in the back of Chow's car with a sack over his head, who they believe to be Doug. Chow gives the guys until dawn to find his purse and the $80,000 or he is going to kill Doug. When the guys can not find the money, Alan uses his amazing card counting skills to win back $82,400 at the black jack tables to give to Chow. Upon trading the money, they find out that Doug isn't their Doug. This Doug is a black drug dealer who sold the roofies to Alan, thinking they were ecstasy. Black Doug(Mike Epps, Next Friday) doesn't know where the real Doug is either. But when Phil is about to tell Melissa that they can't find Doug, five hours before their wedding, Stu realizes where he is. They find Doug and proceed home to the wedding. Getting a tuxedo delivery by van while driving on the highway, the four men make it to the wedding just in time.

Wow, o.k. so when I first saw the previews for this movie, I laughed instantly. Directed by Todd Phillips, who also did Old School, this movie looked like it was another movie just like the Will Ferrel comedy. I always have reservations about going to comedies these days. Comedy is by far my favorite genre of film, but recently, all the comedies I have seen drew me in by the previews and proceeded to put all the funny parts of the movie in the previews leaving nothing new and funny for the actual movie. The Hangover definitley did not do that. This movie was hilarious. It's about a group of guys who have one wild party and it contains all the drunken comedy that you would expect. Justin Bartha, who was funny in the National Treasure movies, was moderately funny in this movie. But he didn't get much chance to work considering he was missing for the majority of the movie. Bradley Cooper, who played Doug's best friend Phil, portrayed the typical best friend who wants nothing more than to get hammered and layed and to take you down with him. Cooper added the brains to the group. Mostly remaining calm and keeping the group organized. Ed Helms, who played Stu, was the typical friend we all have who tries to be the voice of reason and tries to keep the group out of trouble. Helms did a great job. I really liked the way his character changed throughout the movie. He went from the conservative mild mannered guy to a guy who didn't care what happened by the end of it, just as long as they got Doug back. But Zach Galifianakis was the center comedian. His character was the one of the kid at school who used to sit in the corner and talk to his hand. His immaturity was key in what made this movie so funny. He was like an overweight infant with a beard.

The three main characters all had hugely different personalities which all fed off each other perfectly. The chemistry between Cooper, Helms and Galifianakis was on spot the whole movie. The point of The Hangover is, of course, comedy. The hardest thing to do in today's film industry regarding comedies is making a movie funny from start to finish. Well, Todd Phillips with writers Jon Lucas and Scott Moore did what so many comedic directors and writers fail to do, make a movie funny the entire time. But my favorite aspect of the movie was how you, the audience, actually got worried yourself about what happened to Doug. It made you feel like you just woke up from the night before with the guys. It kept you wondering the entire time what really did happen the night before and where the hell Doug is. The movie really kept you locked in. even if you hate this movie, finding out where Doug is and what happened is enough to keep you for the whole film. A true comedy in its purest form. When it comes to having a good time at the movies and laughing your ass off, nothing comes close to The Hangover. I can't really say anything negative about this movie, except, maybe, for the part of the movie where you see an 80 year old man's sagging, wrinkly, white-haired, naked butt. But thats about it.

I give The Hangover 9 Drunken Bachelor Parties out of 10.