The hangover

Rating: 9/10 (31 August 2010)

The Hangover, a Must See If you are looking for guaranteed laughs and a movie that will be entertaining the second and third time then I recommend that you go see The Hangover. It's a laugh-out-loud comedy about a rather eventful bachelor party. It starts when two friends, laid-back school teacher Phil (Bradley Cooper), and overly cautious dentist Stu (Ed Helms) plan a bachelor party for their friend Doug (Justin Bartha). They are offered a sweet ride by their father-in-law to be but it's under one condition, that they take his chubby, comically dim-witted son as well Alan (Zach Galifianakis). They take a trip to Vegas and decide that taking ecstasy will make this a night they'll never forget. Ironically enough it ends up being a night that any of them can barely remember as what was believed to be ecstasy was actually the memory erasing drug rufilin. Soon afterwards, the movie cuts straight from them toasting to the night to waking up in their room with chickens, a baby, a wedding ring, a missing tooth and a missing groom to be. Alan awakens first to use the bathroom and to his surprise there is a tiger in there that doesn't look too pleased. What follows next is a hilarious journey full of unexpected twists and turns with the ultimate goal of finding their lost buddy. Michael Rechtshaffen wrote it best when he said "Pretty much all will be explained over the course of the outrageous hour-and-a-half -- and what isn't will be quite graphically dealt with over the end credits." The three buddies and a baby to be explained later starts off to find Doug and they go about it by attempting to retrace their steps. The first twist comes when they ask the valet for their car and he brings them a police car. They're then led to a hospital by the medical bracelet on Stu's wrist. That is where they find out that they actually took rufilin. What follows next is a further hilarious sequence of events including a naked small Asian man jumping out of their truck and beating them senseless with a tire iron, and Alan getting punched by Mike Tyson. The blend of diverse characters in this side-splitting comedy is perfect as Alan's antics are just the thing that sets off Stu and only someone as laid back as Phil could balance out the situation and keep the movie going. Along with great writing, the physical humor was just as hilarious especially during the scene where they found their selves in some pretty hot water down at the precinct. Joe Leydon of Variety writes "The humor is unapologetically raunchy -- a closing-credits photo montage includes some borderline NC-17 naughtiness". The story is tied together pretty well which makes it an overall good movie and if you are looking for frequent laughs The Hangover is a great choice.