A real comedy

Rating: 7/10 (2 May 2012)

Just when I was starting to think I lost my sense of humor, along came The Hangover. I've been getting an uneasy feeling over the last decade that comedy is a dead genre; the ones that achieve any kind of critical acclaim are either mixed genre and dramedies, like Little Miss Sunshine or Juno; and I've enjoyed some absurdist films like the ones of Wes Anderson; but strict comedies have been hijacked by the likes of Adam Sandler, Will Farrell and - horror of horrors - Friedberg and Seltzer. These are crude comedies that rely on gross-out humor and very cheap laughs, while dismissing everything else that makes a movie watchable. Not since the late 90's have I truly enjoyed a comedy purely for the laughs. Was something wrong with me? The Hangover was a big surprise - at first glance it looked a lot like those gross-out comedies that are everywhere to be found. Indeed, Todd Phillips doesn't shy away from crude sexual and physical humor - which can be seen as early as his forgettable debut, Road Trip. But The Hangover has some other things that Road Trip didn't - good pacing, solid characters with interesting interactions, and genuinely funny moments. The humor is still mostly physical, but the story manages to grab the viewer's attention, and the far-out jokes fit right in, rather than being tacked on. It's a rare species these days - a strict comedy, which is truly funny and truly entertaining. I don't think I saw a pure comedy this funny since 1999's Office Space.
The Hangover isn't a masterpiece, of course - it's a formula movie, and it embraces that formula whole heartedly. The characters are all familiar stereotypes, but they're written well enough and their interactions interesting enough that they feel real and compelling. In the same way, the editing, cinematography, music etc. are solid and built on well-founded and well-tested formulae that keep the viewer involved without distracting, the style never taking over the substance. It's a classic comedy, with no artistic pretenses but with plenty of laughs, comparable with John Landis at his best, and it's a real joy to see a movie like this can still be made today.