The Party. . . after the Party

Rating: 9/10 (22 March 2010)

Like apple pie and STDs, raunchy sex comedies are common, and "The Hangover", a film helmed by Todd Phillips ("Old School", "Road Trip", "Starsky and Hutch: The Movie"), belongs in the genre, yet it has a straight story to make the whole film likable and competent, even to some haters, who dislike T&A and profanity.
Unethical schoolteacher Phil (Brad Cooper of "Wedding Crashers", "Valentine's Day" and "A-Team: The Movie"), henpecked dentist Stu (Ed Helms of "The Office", US version) and bizarre rich man-kid Alan (Zach Galifianakis of "Bored to Death" and Phillips's upcoming "Due Date") decide to give their bud Doug (Justin Bartha of the National Treasure films) a wild bachelor party in Las Vegas, where gambling, alcohol and loose women are endless, before marrying Alan's level-headed sis, Tracy (Sacha Barrese).
However, Alan sneaks some "Good Morning, Cinderella" (aka the date rape drug) into the boy's initial party drinks, and the three endure the title, let along missing the groom!
To find Doug, the trio has to retrace their steps, involving Stu's missing tooth, a stolen police car, a baby, the baby's stripper/escort mom (sweet Heather Graham of "Boogie Nights"), a foul-mouthed mobster (Ken Jeong of "Knocked Up"), $80,000, Mike Tyson's tiger and Mike Tyson himself. Adults, these days
Phillips expertly takes the solid script penned by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore ("Ghosts of Girlfriends Past", "Four Christmases") and reinforces it, making sure it doesn't go off the tracks like some of the works of Judd Apatow, yet the film can be recognized as an unofficial sequel of "Superbad", due to the similarities of the films' heroes.
The cast works so damn well, it wouldn't be any surprise if they had real war stories of indecent revelry. Cooper and Helms shine as man-children on different levels; the former feeling trapped by his job and family, the latter being pussy-whipped by his shrewish girlfriend (Rachael Harris). Due to their predicament, they man up. Galifianakis's the resident goof, making the late John Belushi look sane while Graham spunky reps healthy womanhood, giving relief to Helms, my favorite of the three.
There are nice bits by Jeffrey Tambor ("Arrested Development") as Alan's dad and Mike Epps ("Next Day Air") as a drug dealer. I could do without the R-rated wedding singer, who's no Barry White in the art of seduction. Phillips has a fun cameo. Photo evidence of the party decorates the end credits scroll perfectly.
"The Hangover" shamelessly and smartly proves Las Vegas is a nice place to party, but not to lose your friend, get blasted and have a tiger in your hotel room's bathroom while taking a whiz.