One of the best road trip, buddy comedies in years. A hilarious romp!

Rating: 8/10 (23 August 2009)

There are a few reasons why I would never slap more than an eight out of ten on this movie. First the obvious reasons...the trailer does indeed show, in the grand tradition of comedies, a HUGE portion of the funniest moments and basically covers the entire film. Fortunately the rest of the movie is so well written and really well performed that the scenes are still funny and everything in between the scenes are funnier. Secondly the film uses a tried and true formula and while there is nothing wrong with that it does mean that the film is a little bit predictable at times and the scenes that would have been truly funny and shocking they give away in the trailer. Regardless of these things The Hangover is a hilarious romp and you will go along with these crazy and very different guys and love every minute of it. The best part of the film is they will make you feel like you are one of the guys on the craziest night of their lives...and like them you have no idea what happened the night before making it all the more fun.
Bradley Cooper headlines the cast as the alpha male and is absolutely perfect as the alpha male. He is strong and suave and cool, he's the popular guy that everybody wants to hang out with and Cooper carries the role flawlessly. He is more the straight man in this comedy but he is versatile enough that it really works and he holds the story and cast together. Ed Helms is just terrific as perfectly composed, level headed dentist Stu Price. The character unravels almost more than any other in the film and he just does a terrific job. Zach Galifianakis is probably the funniest member of this comedy troupe. He is brilliantly perfect as the quirky, awkward Alan. He easily becomes everyone's favorite and has some the funniest lines and subtly hilarious moments in the film. Justin Bartha plays the missing groom Doug. Bartha gets the least screen time out of the four guys but he is still a solid part of the team and is good in the role of Doug. The supporting cast is really terrific and quirky and lots of very funny moments come from the supporting cast including Heather Graham, Sasha Barrese, Jeffrey Tambor, Ken Jeong (absolutely hilarious role--a must see for him alone), Rachael Harris, and Mike Tyson (also hilarious.) These are the cameo roles that will really stand out and worth watching out for.
The Hangover is practically guaranteed to become a cult classic...maybe even reach Animal House, Bachelor Party comedy status. It is also practically a guarantee that we will see another installment in The Hangover series and you know this from the moment Doug squeezes his wife's hand and whispers "This will NEVER happen again," that the crazy four guys are going to get in trouble all over again and millions will flock to watch. The four of them have amazing chemistry, the perfect combination and personalities and performances. Everything just fits together perfectly. Sometimes that's talent and sometimes its just luck. In this case it might be a little of everything. Certainly director Todd Phillips is no stranger to comedy having directed some really solid slapstick, raunchy comedies but with really good stories and that is the key. The Hangover is the must see adult comedy of the year. It will have you in stitches and I haven't heard a single bad word uttered about it so it seems like a general consensus, probably the comedy of the year thus far. 8/10