This movie uses a formula that is rarely used in comedies

Rating: 9/10 (14 June 2009)

This movie takes a familiar plot and turns it on its head. You don't see the bachelor party. You see the guys wake up with no recollection of what happened. Their hotel "villa" where they wake up is trashed and includes a tiger, a chicken and a baby. The groom-to-be is missing. You don't know what happened and neither do they. You just know that something crazy happened. As the guys try to piece together clues to find their friend, they encounter the consequences of their crazy, intoxicated behavior. They are just as shocked as the audience as they encounter the people they dealt with the night before, when they unknowingly consumed a powerful drug. They have a strict time deadline to find their friend as the wedding is two days after the party, one day after the hangover. So every turn they take gets more outrageous since you don't know how they know these people that know them and either hate them and want to hurt them, or love them for reasons they don't know. Eventually, things start to add up, but only after the guys encounter situations that are completely bizarre. The guys are relatively stereotypical--the nerd who is whipped and uptight, the stud who has a bit of a chip on his shoulder, and the weirdo who makes everyone uncomfortable. None of them is ready to deal with the trouble that they created while drugged, so they are freaking out with what they encounter, and the audience empathizes with them because we all have had that night where we have done something we regret while under the influence. Only it seems these guys have messed with some really crazy people. This movie moves from laugh to laugh consistently, and you don't know how far it will go. The chemistry with the very different characters keeps getting better. At the end, you finally get to see what happened to set these events into motion. At that point, you realize these guys were just extremely drugged-up guys who were trying to have a night to remember and were so messed up that they did some pretty stupid things. This movie is great fun and a bit uncomfortable for those who have had nights where they have done things they don't remember.