A ‘Hangover’ like no other hits the big screen
I’ve seen a lot of romantic comedies lately, and dramas, so I
thought it was time to see something that would just make me laugh
and require little thinking last weekend.
”
The Hangover
”
seemed like just the movie to fit the bill.
A ‘Hangover’ like no other hits the big screen
I’ve seen a lot of romantic comedies lately, and dramas, so I thought it was time to see something that would just make me laugh and require little thinking last weekend. “The Hangover” seemed like just the movie to fit the bill.
When I first saw the previews, the movie reminded me of something Judd Apatow might make, or maybe Sacha Baron Cohen. So I skipped it the first week it was out in theaters and the second week. But after hearing from several sources that the movie was really funny, I decided to give it a try.
The movie has two things going for it – Ed Helms and Bradley Cooper. Ed Helms just makes me laugh. He made me laugh as a faux anchor on “The Daily Show.” He made me laugh as Glen the Zombie in a short film called “Zombie American.” He makes me laugh when I see random clips of him as Andy Bernard on “The Office.” So I should have known that Ed Helms would make me laugh as Stu, a dorky dentist whose girlfriend has him wrapped up so tightly around her finger that he makes up a story about going to Napa for the bachelor party.
Bradley Cooper has mostly had turns in movies as the best friend of the lead character, or in ensemble pieces such as “He’s Just Not That Into You.” He tends to play roles where he is the good-looking guy who knows he’s good looking. But he knows how to deliver a sarcastic line with complete deadpan, and that works to his advantage in this madcap movie.
“The Hangover” is a true guy movie in that the wife, the girlfriend and the fiancee hardly make it onto the screen. In fact, Phil’s (Bradley Cooper) wife and son don’t even make it into the film until the last 10 minutes. I can tell you the name of Doug’s (Justin Bartha) fiancee – it’s Tracy – but not much else about her. And actually Doug himself isn’t really all that important to the movie.
Doug is set to get married in Los Angles in a few days. His best friends Phil and Stu decide to take him to Vegas for the weekend, and Doug invites along Alan (Zach Galifianakis), his bride-to-be’s brother. Alan is just plain weird, but the guys try their best to put up with him.
When they arrive in Vegas, the shenanigans start when Phil insists on renting a villa – on Stu’s credit card – rather than a two-room suite at Cesar’s Palace. As the guys get ready for a big night out, Stu makes up some more stories about Napa to keep his girlfriend satisfied that he is not in for an evening of debauchery.
The guys head up to the roof, where Alan uses a weird metaphor about wolves to describe how important becoming part of Doug’s group has been to him and they all do shots of Jagermeister before heading out on the town.
The trouble is when Stu, Alan and Phil wake up the next day, they find the villa trashed and a few unusual items inside – including a baby in the closet and a tiger in the bathroom. Stu is even missing one of his front teeth. Doug is nowhere to be found. At breakfast, the trio tries to retrace their steps from the night before and they discover they can’t remember much that happened after 10 p.m. They find an ATM withdrawal slip from the Bellagio, a parking valet stub and a hospital wristband on Phil.
The guys head out on a wild goose chase to find Doug in time to get back to Los Angeles for the wedding. At the hospital, they find out that Phil had a mild concussion and that his toxicology test turned up Rohypnol, the date rape drug. They now understand their extreme memory loss. The emergency room doc also gives them info on the next step in their journey – a wedding chapel where Stu married a woman he can’t remember.
Along the way they find the mother of the baby, what happened to Stu’s missing tooth, and where the tiger came into the picture, but they still can’t find Doug.
The movie has plenty of stupid moments – and some crass ones – but the three groomsmen all made me laugh enough to make it worth watching.
