Great movie, worth seeing.

Rating: 9/10 (2 September 2010)

Take strippers, alcohol, drugs, gambling, Vegas, and combine it with a witty script and you get the base for The Hangover. Of course that's not the entire recipe, you still have to add a baby, Mike Epps, and Mike Tyson, oh and a tiger. While having a good recipe won't guarantee that you can follow it and make it work, Todd Phillips did a great job. The actors are what you would imagine, if you read the script and tried to picture the character. A . O . Scott simply said "The immaturity of ostensibly grown-up American men is an inexhaustible subject, or at least one that has yet to exhaust American movie audiences and the well-paid guys who cater to their entertainment needs. Todd Phillips, the director of "Old School," "Road Trip" and an HBO documentary called "Frat House" as well as a writer of "Borat," has shown himself to be an adept and tireless connoisseur of male boorishness and stupidity, though the crude humor he dispenses is frequently leavened by nuggets of inventiveness and wit."
Roger Ebert says "Now this is what I'm talking' about. "The Hangover" is a funny movie, flat out, all the way through. Its setup is funny. Every situation is funny. Most of the dialogue is funny almost line by line. At some point we actually find ourselves caring a little about what happened to the missing bridegroom -- and the fact that we almost care is funny, too." and I definitely have to agree with him. The movie opens up with Phil, played by Bradley Cooper, calling Doug's fiancé to tell her that Doug, played by Justin Bartha, is missing and that the wedding won't go on. The movie then rewinds to the beginning and right away the dialogue brings you to a chuckle. And when the laughter begins, there seems to be no end to the laughter in sight. One hilarious scene after another, The Hangover provides its audience with very explicit humor. This movie definitely wasn't written for children or very philosophical people who look for a deeper meaning in the movie. Although there are some things that can be interpreted more deeply then intended. Such as when Mr. Chow, played by Ken Jeong, says "fat guy falling is funny. Is only funny because it is a fat guy." Fat people have been made fun of since I can remember in comedies, and don't let me get started with the falling part. Our entertainment is based around other people getting hurt, just look at all the videos on YouTube and Americas Funniest Home Videos. Another instance in the movie where we laugh from someone else's pain is after the crew steals the police car. They get locked up in county jail and are given an option to participate in an exhibit in exchange for their freedom. The four men enter the room with a class full of younger children and then see that they are talking about taser guns and hand tasers. Needless to say, the men are in for a surprise. As much as I loved the movie there are a few things that I am not too fond of. The script by itself isn't really anything special. I am highly sure that a lot of improvising took place on set between the actors, as well as the director. As well as the script not being the greatest, the movie also felt "too short" in a way. I believe they could have extended a few scenes to grab the audience and pull them deeper into the movie.
All in all I give the movies a strong four and a half stars out of five. The movies not perfect, but it's a comedy. If you go to the Movie Theater or rent it on DVD with the intent of just laughing like a child for an hour or two then this movie is perfect for you. Just be sure to put the kids to sleep or possibly even stay the night at a friend's house just in case.