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Cast: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Heather Graham, Bryan Callen, Sasha Barrese
Director: Todd Phillips
Rating: ***
A lift-off from Dude Where's My Car, this film is about a wild bachelor's party that turns out to be wilder the next morning. The story elements catalogue every frustrated man's decadent fantasy.
The film details one night and a day in the lives of four guys in their 30's who never quite got over their adolescence or sense of adventure. It's not original by any yardstick, there are a dozen movies that have focused on the thrills and spills encountered by men running loose in Vegas. The Hangover is no different.
Soon-to-be-married Doug (Justin Bartha) and his three groomsmen Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms) and Alan (Zach Galigianakis) take-off for a wild night in Vegas two days before the wedding. As expected they have a wild time fuelled by the date drug.
They wake up to memory loss, a baby, a tiger in the bathroom and the groom missing. The rest of the film tries to pull together the moments of their revelry so they can find the groom and get back in time for the wedding.
Todd Phillips' narrative is quite cleverly spliced together. There are ample funny moments, the funny meter swings from bawdy and profane to quirky and sitcom-like. The actors do a convincing job of having a whale of a time on the seismic night of revelry. It's the day after that is not as convincing.It appears forced.
The plot takes some unbelievable and outlandish twists and turns. The tone is freewheeling and there's enough energy to hold your interest throughout the runtime though. This one is unapologetically funny and it's not entirely a no-brainer.
