The Hangover (2009)

Director: Todd Philips
Story: Jon Lucas and Scott Moore
Cast: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha, Ken Jeong
Music:  Christophe Beck
Time: 100 minutes
Bottom-line: Laughs all the way; a well-written but somewhat unrealistic story

  From the director of Old School comes this fun-filled comedy film, The Hangover. Set in Las Vegas, this is a story of how four men get drunk one night and the dire consequences that follow. What started out as a nice comedy film became a little vulgar later, but yet, the comic twists and turns along the way, as well as the dialogues overcome most of the flaws of the film.

Doug Billings (Bartha) is getting married in a couple of days, so he invites his friends: Phil Wenneck (Cooper), Alan Garner (Galifianakis) and Stuart “Stu” Price (Helms) to Las Vegas for a bachelor party. They stay at Caesar’s place. That night, they go to the roof and celebrate with drinks. The next morning, Phil, Stu and Alan find the room completely messed up, and none of them have any memory of the previous night. Stu’s tooth is missing, they find a tiger in the bathroom, a baby in the closet, a chicken is found in the living room and most importantly, Doug is nowhere to be found. Doug’s mattress is found on a statue, and the valet brings a LAPD police car when they ask for theirs (a Mercedes). Soon, the three of them retrace their steps and find that they were drugged, that Stu married someone, despite his long-term relationship with another woman, Melissa. Later, they hear some sounds from the boot of the car, and find a naked Chinese man (Jeong) inside. After getting beat up by him, they return to their hotel, still very much baffled about the previous night. The rest of the film covers the remaining incidents in the adventure the three of them trying to find Doug.

The four men: Galifianakis (left most), Cooper (right most), Bartha (second from right) and Helms (second from left)

The film starts well: few comic dialogues and few incidents of slapstick comedy. The comedy comes from the dialogues, and from the incidents which happened the previous night that we get to know about. All the comic scenes are very funny and enjoyable. The dialogues are excellent: there are tons of funny lines by all characters. But the rest of the story never really feels real or true. I find it very difficult to believe that drunkenness or drugs can cause a man to do all the things they the three of them did the previous night. Yet, this is a film where such things should be ignored: it is a laugh riot.

The story is quite fast paced: the comic scenes manage to make the film move fast. However, when you understand the ending, it is kind of bland. The ending is not probable. Men can do a few things when drunk, but the things that they do are too much: not believable at all. Of course, you can take it with a light heart and think of this as a ‘pastime movie’. There is a lot of vulgarity: both visually and in the language. The acting is also only average. The comic tension and the loose story reduce the need for acting. But the actors: Cooper, Galifianakis and Helms all do well to make us laugh.

A famous still from the film

The script is well written. Though the story is unrealistic, Lucas and Moore have written the script in such a way that makes us laugh even though we know it is highly improbable. All the events are connected well. As the story progresses, the events of the previous night are revealed one by one to the viewers, and we can make sense out of them. There are no loopholes as far the order of the events is concerned.

There is nothing great about photography or the score. The beginning of the film is quite good. It begins with Doug’s fiance getting a call from Phil, saying that they lost Doug. This scene occurs later in the film, but we can traces of blood on the faces of the three people and during the title sequence, many scenes of Las Vegas are seen. So, as a viewer, you can make out that it is a story that happens in Vegas and it is about the three people finding a certain ‘Doug’. So, it is like a prelude to the film.

Other comic twists are also good. If the vulgar content was reduced, I would have liked it better. But the comic approach is very good. This film doesn’t contain only slapstick comedy like that of say, Home Alone. Comedy comes from all angles: from the scenes, dialogues and overall story.

Poster of The Hangover: Part II

A sequel, The Hangover: Part II, was released two years later, also directed by Todd Philips. The four lead actors, and Ken Jeong, all reprise their roles. The later film was a major disappointment. It is the exact same story: Phil, Stu, Doug and Alan going to Thailand, for Stu's marriage; they get drunk one night, and forget everything that happened. The only change is that this time, they lose Teddy, Stu's fiance's brother. So, after the success of this film, seeing the same story again with a different venue only makes it boring and lame. Seeing four men get drunk and cause mishaps is fun once, but creating another film with different settings does not make a better film. I rate this 1.5/5, the 1.5 stars for some new and funny jokes.

To sum up, Todd Philips’ The Hangover is a fun filled film, but not realistic. Watch the film for the pure fun it gives. The script is well-written, the dialogues are excellent. In short, if this film doesn’t make you laugh, then you have a problem.

My Rating: 3.5/5
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 79%