What happens in Vegas...is hilarious

Rating: 8/10 (5 October 2009)

The majority of the last decade of film comedy has given us "American Pie" rip-offs and Judd Apatow rip-offs, so it's refreshing to see Todd Phillips return to a situational comedy with great relationships and great dialogue. "The Hangover" is a hard R rating, but I was never overwhelmed with that all-we-have-for-you-is-gross-out-material feeling that other, more desperate films resort to. The confidence of the acting and direction in "The Hangover" is easy to tag along with, and the ride is worth it. The story doesn't seem like anything new – four guys go to Vegas for a bachelor party and things go horribly, horribly wrong. The quartet wakes up the morning after to find they can't remember what happened and the state of their hotel room is chaotic.
The biggest enjoyment of this film is watching reveal after reveal as the guys discover just what mayhem their night consisted of. And the rabbit hole gets deeper and deeper as the plot unfolds, and the movie gets funnier and funnier. This film is a great starring vehicle for perennial supporting actor Bradley Cooper, whose turns in "Wedding Crashers" and "Failure to Launch" first got him noticed in the movies. The other main members of the crew are Ed Helms (SO funny on "The Office") and Zach Galifinakis, (funny in comic circles for years, finally getting his due in a big movie). It's a great casting turn to use these guys 'cause the scenes don't get dominated by the routine antics you'd expect from someone like Will Ferrell, Adam Sandler, and even Seth Rogen, to a point. Every lead guy in this film is a wild card, and that's a huge asset to the movie.
"Bromance" seems to be the theme to many of today's comedies, and despite a male-centric story, "The Hangover" avoids lapsing into forced sentimentality and as a result finds more time for more laughs. Especially hilarious is the security cam footage from Mike Tyson's house and a visit to the wedding chapel where a particularly drunken event occurred the night before. The Mike Tyson cameo is hit and miss. It seems like the filmmakers wanted to exploit his eccentricity, having him sing along with a Phil Collins song, but he works best as a straight man to the madness of the party-goers.
Maybe Tyson should've been more imposing, 'cause if I had one storyline issue, it was the lack of really threatening characters that would add a whole new level to the mystery of what happened the night before. Two police officers question the boys, but their relationship soon devolves into SNL-type characters and the guy's first run-in with Asian gangsters is hilarious in that what-have-they-gotten-themselves-into kind of way, but it's disappointing to learn that their boss (despite a hilarious entrance) is more cartoonish than intimidating. Watching our heroes squirm out from under a more ominous gangster might've been a more compelling choice.
Those are minor issues with an otherwise funnier-than-hell movie that has dialogue I wish I spoke and characters I wish I knew.for one night.
SPOILER TALK: I'm curious what women think of the result of all the debauchery in "The Hangover". In the end, the guys get away with EVERYTHING! They don't get scolded for their actions, the one stripper they meet has a heart of gold, the "bitch" of the story gets tossed to the curb, they make the wedding, everything seems to go right. For me, a guy, watching this, it's a cathartic tale of scruffy heroism. But what does a female think? Should the boys have ANY comeuppance?