The HANGOVER

“The HANGOVER” (Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis & Justin Bartha)

I know I promised Google that I would keep this blog ‘clean’, but this movie is fu**in’ hilarious! I have not laughed as much in a theatre since ‘South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut’. I went into this thinking it would be a mildly amusing second-rate comedy, leery of Bradley Cooper’s ability to be laugh-out-loud funny & the inclusion of 2 ‘Daily Show’ correspondents (Ed Helms & Rob Riggle) Don’t get me wrong, I love the Daily Show, but its funniest alumni are just that – in the past (Steve Carell, Lewis Black & Stephen Colbert... Okay, okay, Black may still show up from time to time, but he’s not a regular anymore – don’t nitpick)
I had hopes for Zach, being a stand-up comedian (Or is he a sit-down comedian since he's often at a piano during his act?) Throw in the ‘he hasn’t been funny since Hank Kingsley’ Jeffrey Tambor, the extremely cute Heather Graham, Mike Freakin’ Tyson & Chelsea Lately audience warm-up guy Brody Stevens(in a bit part that doesn’t even constitute a ‘nibble’, but he’d be overjoyed at being mentioned in any review of this film & since I met him once a few years ago at Swannie’s Comedy Underground, I figured I’d throw him a bone) & you really didn't expect this film to be the wall-to-wall crack up that it is.
From start to finish it all works – there is hardly a scene that doesn’t include several chuckles & many times I burst out in my annoying girly-man guffaw. Some would call me a tough audience, but when the material is this funny, I am actually an easy laugh.
I have mentioned my ‘laugh-o-meter’ before & since its invention no film has garnered into the seventies – until now. ‘The Hangover’ scored a 79. Last year’s exceptionally amusing ‘Tropic Thunder’ was in the mid-40’s. Anything in the 20’s is considered to be a ‘good’ comedy.
‘The Hangover’ scored a 79.
No, I’m not telling you very much about the film, but I don’t think I should – I wouldn’t want to spoil it for you – Just go see the damn thing, it’s fu**in’ hilarious!
I should warn you that it is quite ‘raunchy’, oft times stooping to crude, bawdy humor but it is very well written with one snappy quip after another & one absurd set-up after another to make the filthy-yet-witty quips work. I laughed my ample ass off.
It is also clearly a guy’s movie. Maybe that’s why I loved it so much – Cooper finally got out of that chick flick mundane comedy rut he’d been stuck in & he has become a star in my mind with this quirky dude-relatable outing. But I did ask my wife if she found it amusing, or too dirty and low-brow for her taste & she, though acquiescing that I enjoyed it much more, said it was a very funny film.
The film opens with Phil (Bradley Cooper) looking pale & weary with a still bleeding split lip calling his best friend’s bride-to-be on his cell phone while appearing to be on a deserted stretch of highway & telling her that her fiancé Doug (Bartha) is not going to make it to their wedding on time. We are then sent back in time to 2 days earlier where Doug & his future brother-in-law, Alan (Galifianakis) are being fitted for their tuxes & planning Doug’s bachelor party trip to Vegas with his 2 other groomsmen, Phil & Stu (Helms)
Doug’s future father-in-law (Tambor) lends Doug his BMW for the road trip, asking only that he not allow his son Alan to drive – nor Doug’s best man Phil; since Alan is a f--- up & Phil is an a—hole.
To give you a taste of the type of humor ‘The Hangover’ offers – When Doug & Alan pick up teacher Phil at the middle school where he works. Alan says, “I’m technically not allowed to be within 3 blocks of any school,” as he salaciously eyes the young children as they emerge from the building. This film is rated R for a reason – Don’t take your kids!
When the foursome arrives in Vegas Stu announces that he’s going to ask his girlfriend (who cheated on him with a cruise ship bartender) to marry him during the reception after Doug’s nuptials. He produces the engagement ring saying it was his Grandmother’s Holocaust ring, to which a confused Alan remarks, “They gave out rings during the Holocaust?”
Although the movie starts off strong, it actually soars into a whole new stratosphere when the ‘title’ comes into play. The ‘hangover’ segment begins with Stu, lying face down on the floor of their Vegas suite, bleeding from his mouth. Alan stumbles out from behind the bar wearing nothing but a t-shirt. & Phil is rudely awakened by Alan when he comes running out of the bathroom, having the piss scared out of him (literally) by the full grown tiger that he finds in the can while taking a leak. Doug is nowhere to be found & none of the 3 men can remember anything that happened the previous evening.
I would also like to commend the make-up artists on this film, as you have never seen 3 guys look more like actual victims of the world’s worst hangovers in your life. You understand why they have total amnesia since they made my stomach feel queasy just by looking at them!
A baby left in a closet, a stolen cop car, kids with tasers (the scene that includes Brody) the owner of the tiger, a naked Asian man & the mystery of Stu’s missing tooth all combine to help the threesome retrace their actions & discover the whereabouts of the groom-to-be.
Heather Graham is still a knockout playing the sweetest hooker/stripper you’d ever want to meet while on a drunken/drug-induced bender & just when you think they can’t possibly make you cackle with laughter anymore, they run a somewhat pornographic yet side-splitting photo montage of the events that led to the 'morning after'... Did I mention this movie scored a 79 on my laugh-o-meter? Dude, that means it’s pretty fu**in’ funny!