Not just a great comedy, but a Great Movie.

Rating: 10/10 (2 September 2009)

The Hangover centers around four friends and their attempt to understand the events of the previous night. Doug is getting married and he and two of his friends Stu, who is henpecked, and Phil, who doesn't appreciate what he has, are going to celebrate his bachelor party in Las Vegas. Alan, Doug's annoying soon to be step brother, wants to tag along and Doug says it's okay much to the chagrin of Stu and Phil. The four toast on the roof of their hotel and the next thing they know they are waking up without any idea of what happened the night before and they can't find Doug. Stu, Alan, and Phil must figure out what happened and find Doug before his wedding later that day.
The plot of The Hangover is much more original and complex than most comedies. The fact that they have to figure out what happened with what they find makes for an interesting almost backward telling of the story. They and the audience are given the end result and both have to figure out what led up to it. It's also fun because you get to find out what everything means as the characters do. Another really amazing aspect of The Hangover was the amount of jokes they would cram into each scene. Whether they were funny or not every scene would just have joke after joke.
All the characters are funny and interesting in their own way. Zach Galifianakis' performance as Alan is one of the best break out comedy performances I have ever seen. Ed Helms and Bradley Cooper also do great in both of their first big roles. Even the minor characters that only get a few lines manage to squeeze some comedy out of their very small roles, which is another thing that sets this apart from other comedies.
I was somewhat disappointed in the ending however. I found it to be a bit predictable and a tad too perfect. Rarely will a comedy have a good ending though, so that isn't a big deal.
So in short, The Hangover is not only one of the best movies of 2009, but one of the best comedies ever.