Funniest Film Of The Year.

Rating: 8/10 (11 June 2009)

After a wild bachelor party, 3 friends wake up in a destroyed room and discover that their friend, the groom, is missing. Now they must re-trace their steps from the night that they can't remember in order to get him back to the wedding the next day.
This premise is just an excuse for some wild and random comedic scenarios, such as having a tiger be in your bathroom when you wake up. The joy of watching this film is seeing just how many crazy things come next, all of which the characters have no memory of. What makes The Hangover work so well, is not just those random comedic scenarios, but the cast that blended so well together. Specifically Zach Galifianakis, whom has been the audience favourite.
As the film progresses, the characters find themselves getting into some serious situations due to their antics the night before. I want say what happens, as each one if funny and should be watched with surprise. It easy to say that this film will not bore you. It does have a particular comedic style though and you can judge yourself if you'll be into it or not from the trailer.
Todd Phillips, of Oldschool fame, has his funniest movie here. Both Road Trip and Oldschool were good, yet were missing something that made me really love it. The Hangover has this something. It's not a teen comedy (road trip) nor is it a star powered film (old school). It uses familiar faces that make you go "I've seen him before" but never do these actors overshadow the film. Had it of been a bigger name cast it wouldn't have worked so well.
The three friends are played by Ed Helms, the uptight dentist, Bradley Cooper, the suave smooth talker, and Zach Galifianakis, the odd brother in law. The groom is played by Justin Bartha, the National Treasure sidekick. It's easy to say the Galifianakis steals the show. It's obvious he will garner more roles from this, I just hope he doesn't get pigeon-holed into this style. He reminds me of Chi McBride and I want him to branch out before it's too late (Michael Cera). Helms and Cooper also hold up nicely, I'm familiar with Helms from The Office and Daily Show fame and Cooper from previous films has always been likable. Bartha isn't in the film that much, since most of it is them looking for the guy.
The Hangover also doesn't suffer from the one thing that seems to kill so many comedies. Over exposed trailer. Yes we've all seen the Mike Tyson bit, but the film has so many random bits of comedy that you will enjoy yourself throughout the running time. If the film does fault, it's with the character of Mr. Chow. I like Ken Jeong, but here he plays the character way over the top and it becomes distracting. Heather Graham makes an appearance as well and as she does with almost every role she takes on, you see her boobies. Well, one boob.
The film is funny, I was entertained, and I expect to see good things from Galifianakis. It's vulgar and obscene and don't expect to see much heart near the end or a good message, like Apatow films do. While it does have that one scene in which one character stands up for himself, it doesn't try to throw any real messages out the audience.
Make sure you stay for the first bit of the credits, as the laughs don't stop.