Bland, insipid, unoriginal and frankly a waste of everybody's time.

Rating: Null/10 (15 July 2009)

***MINOR SPOILERS***
Why can't America produce decent comedy any more?
I mean seriously. This is the country that gave us the Blues Brothers, Dr. Strangelove, Some Like It Hot, Airplane and even Blazing Saddles. Why can't it be done today?
The Hangover is a prime example of missed timing and poor delivery, the worst offender by far being Zach Galifianakis, playing the part of the oddball Alan.
Now the guys I saw this film with tell me they loved it which goes to show how subjective humour is, but to me Zach really didn't seem to give a damn on the set. His performance is flat, he really seems to have no sense of comedic timing and manages to utterly flatten almost every scene he is unwise enough to open his mouth in. However, in the spirit of fairness I'll note that his character exists for only two reasons:
1) To play as the dork come good / Rain Man savant at a crucial but blatantly telegraphed point, and
2) To be the odd-man-outsider and obligatory gross-out character
In the first of these he succeeds well enough - it's not exactly a revelation in the plot when it happens and Heather Graham steals the scene with a knowing piece of over-acting. In the second role... oh dear gods no. Just... no.
As for the rest of the cast, well they struggle gamely with insipid characters, flat direction and sub-Dude Where's My Car scripting.
The film plays essentially as a series of loosely connected sketches. Some hit, some miss but none ever reaches a real crescendo, it all feels hackneyed and, well, unoriginal.
In summary, it isn't a terrible film, but it isn't good either. It's just dull and that is a real failing in a comedy.
Worth having on if you're with mates and drunk. I can't recommend it otherwise. Oh and there is a sequel in development. I can't express my enthusiasm. Really.