I guess I am missing something with this film....

Rating: 3/10 (29 July 2011)

I felt so out of touch with everyone when I got around to seeing this film. After all, it has a very respectable score on IMDb and a lot of folks seemed to like it--yet I found it about as enjoyable as dental surgery. Part of the problem might be that I only watched it because I was bored and on a cruise ship with a very limited selection of DVDs. Part of it might be because the day before (also out of boredom) I watched "Hot Tub Time Machine"--and it was practically the same film.
"The Hangover" is a story about four completely unlikable guys who seem more like caricatures than anyone you'd ever meet. In addition, they were so unlike each other you wonder if such friendships ever exist anywhere but in a Hollywood film. One is the guy who is about to get married--and wants to screw some hookers before he ties the knot (how heart-warming). One is a handsome school teacher who is just nasty and 100% unlikable. One is a screw-up and idiot--so they naturally make him the fat guy. And, the other is the man in a relationship with a castrating female. If these sound familiar, they were pretty much the same characters you'd see in "Hot Tub Time Machine"--but even more one-dimensional and this is especially true for the last two characters I mentioned. They go to Vegas, accidentally ingest some of the date rape drug and do lots of insane things--little of which is particularly funny. And this is the problem with the film. If you laugh at very low-brow humor, don't mind that the plot makes no sense (such as the tasering scene) and think that a dirty word is THE punchline for most jokes, then you'll enjoy the film. As for me, I can enjoy a dopey film (such as "Talladega Nights" or "Strange Brew")--but there is a limit to dopiness. Plus, it's hard to stick with a movie when you simply don't care what happens to any of them. Overall, over-rated unlike any recent movie I have seen. Unpleasant, unfunny and for the undemanding.