The HangoverIn Theatres: Friday, June 5th
IMDB Cribbed Synopsis: A Las Vegas-set comedy centered around three groomsmen who lose their about-to-be-wed buddy during their drunken misadventures, then must retrace their steps in order to find him.
If Only Real Life Hangovers Were This Funny...
Review: The Hangover is a hard movie to review. In my efforts to come up with creative ways to describe this wacky, wiener tingling Vegas romp, my mind begins to wander and I inevitably get the urge to start quoting it as opposed to reviewing it. So in other words, The Hangover is as imminently quotable as it looks. (And like Anchorman and Borat before it, this quoting will probably get ridiculously old after a while, yet guys like this will press on well after the expiration date.)
Unlike "Apatow comedies", which mix in heart and soul with their raunch, The Hangover is pretty much all cock and balls. Sometimes literally. Part Old School (directed by the same guy)and part Wedding Crashers, the film's plot isn't even worth going into and probably best summed up with a seemingly random string of words and phrases: bachelor party, tiger, stolen baby, missing tooth, blackjack, Mike Tyson, public urination, gay Chinese mobsters, Rain Man, tasers, Holocaust rings, breastfeeding and beards. If you've ever experienced any of these (and who hasn't had a run in or two with a gay Chinese mobster?), then you'll probably love The Hangover.
As an avowed Zach Galifianakis fanboy, I really enjoyed his dumb-guy schtick and the esoteric and bizarre air that he brought to the proceedings. Ed Helms is classic as the whipped nerdy guy and Bradley Cooper does a fine job playing essentially a poor man's Vince Vaughn. Add to that a host of funny, recognizable bit players and over-the-top set pieces and you've got your recipe for a not at all subtle summer comedy that delivers on it's lofty promise.
As I saw this in a packed theatre, where the laughter was as contagious as a case of Vegas herpes, one has to wonder if the film will carry the same oomph when watching it for the 3rd time on DVD over a glass of Chablis and some nice Gruyère cheese. Which, come to think of it, is probably why you should see it in the theatre. Much like Drag Me to Hell, this may not be the best movie you'll see this year, but it will certainly be one of the most, if not the most, enjoyable ones on a gut level. Busting a gut never felt so wrong, but oh so right.
*Make sure to stay for the credits, which contain the best parts of the whole movie, including an image that will haunt you for the rest of your life.
Thunder Matt Rating: 69 Dead Vegas Hookers out of 5
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