The Hangover
Tags: comedy, horror, flashback, absurd, humor, entertaining

Plot synopsis:
The movie opens with Phil (Bradley Cooper) on the phone in the middle of the desert. He is calling the fiancee of his best friend Doug (Justin Bartha) and tells her that they messed up. "We lost Doug." The fiancée, Tracy Garner (Sasha Barrese), freaks out because she and Doug are supposed to get married in 5 hours. "That's not going to happen."Two days earlier, Doug and his soon-to-be brother-in-law Alan (Zach Galifianakis) are trying on tuxedos. Alan says it's OK if Doug doesn't bring him to the bachelor party tonight. Alan is severely socially inept but Doug makes it clear that he wants Alan to be there with him. Since they are going to be brothers soon, they have to look out for each other.Doug goes to talk to his future father-in-law, Sid Garner (Jeffery Tambor), and is given permission to take his Mercedes to Vegas for the bachelor party since Sid remembers what it was like to be a young man. Doug thanks him and promises that he will be the only one to drive the car that day. Doug and Alan then leave to pick up the others.Doug's best friend Phil is a high school teacher reminding one of his classes to pay 90 dollars for a field trip to an observatory, which they all promptly pay. Phil then removes the $3500 from their envelopes and puts them into an envelope marked Vegas. He grabs his bag, ignores a student and jumps into the Mercedes. The group then goes to get their last member.Stu (Ed Helms), a dentist, is at home arguing with his girlfriend, Melissa (Rachael Harris), about the bachelor party. Stu tells her that they are going to Napa Valley for a wine tasting. Melissa is convinced, however, that Phil will find a way to find a strip club. Melissa treats Stu very badly, but Stu takes it with a smile and tries to kiss her but she won't have any of it. The guys arrive and Stu leaves with them.The group drives to Las Vegas and check into Caesars Palace. They try to decide how to pay and Phil volunteers Stu's credit card as the main payment method. Stu flatly refuses, telling Phil that Melissa would see the charges and realize that they went to Vegas. Doug tells Stu that they'll sort out the payment when they check out. They go upstairs to get ready for their 1st night out. Stu tells Doug and Phil that he's going to propose to Melissa and use his grandmother's Holocaust ring as an engagement ring. While Doug congratulates Stu, Phil openly points out that Melissa is a controlling bitch. Stu and Phil get into an argument and Phil tells Stu that Melissa is clearly not a good person since she cheated on Stu when she slept with a bartender on a cruise. At that point, Alan comes in with a satchel and asks the guys if they're ready to let the dogs out.The four go to the roof and make a toast. Alan treats everyone to a shot of Jägermeister and then reads an awkward speech to the group telling them how the four of them are like a pack of wolves. Phil then tells the others that he's toasting them to a night they will never forget.Time passes as we see the night skyline of Las Vegas change slowly into the next morning.A woman walks out of the room carrying her stiletto heels. Stu comes to on the floor with blood on his shirt. Phil is sleeping on the floor and Alan wakes up on the couch. The room is a complete mess. A chair is horribly burned, statues litter the room, and there are a bunch of champagne bottles aligned as bowling pins. Alan goes to the bathroom and sees a live tiger. Phil wakes up when Alan steps on him and thinks that Alan is imagining things. He laughs at the fact that there is a tiger in the bathroom and tells Stu that his head hurts. Stu realizes that he's missing a tooth and Phil can't help but laugh. He stops once they realize Doug is nowhere to be found. They also note that Doug's mattress is missing. During their search, they hear a baby crying in the closet. They don't know whose baby it is but decide to take it with them to breakfast.At breakfast, Alan makes the baby pretend-masturbate for the guys and lovingly dubs him "Carlos." Phil, Stu and Alan realize that they can't remember anything from the night before. They check their pockets for clues to what happened last night. Alan has Stu's tooth, Stu has a receipt for an $800 withdrawal at the Bellagio, and Phil has a hospital bracelet on his wrist. They decide to make the hospital their first stop.Outside the hotel, the trio waits for the valet to bring around their car. They notice a cleaning crew removing a mattress impaled on Caesar's statue on an upper level of the hotel. Phil notes that they must have had a wild night. The valet drives up, not in the Mercedes, but in a police car and gives Phil the keys. They drive off and head to the hospital to get a lead on where Doug is.The ER doctor tells them that Phil was admitted with a mild concussion and that Doug was with them when they visited. Phil bribes him for more information and the doctor tells him that they had just come from a wedding at a chapel a few blocks away. The doctor also tells Phil that he had high traces of "ruphylin" (referring to the date-rape drug known as "roofies") in his system. Phil freaks out at the possibility of having been raped, but the doctor tells him he wasn't. The trio decides to head there.When they arrive at the chapel, they are greeted like family by the proprietor, Eddy. They can't remember why, but soon found out that Stu married a woman named Jade (Heather Graham) the night before and that everyone was present for the wedding. Stu freaks out a little, Phil looks into an annulment and Eddy gives them Jade's address.The trio head to the car and as they pull out, they are confronted by a pair of Asian gangsters demanding that the trio return someone they kidnapped. The gangsters pull out guns and threaten the trio before accidentally shooting Eddy in the shoulder. Phil drives the car out of the lot. They get to Jade's and find her on the phone freaking out because she couldn't find her baby, who turns out to be named Tyler. She sees Stu and is happy to see him but he freaks when he finds out that she's a stripper who works as an escort and he gave her his grandmother's Holocaust ring. The group is interrupted by the arrival of two police officers who arrest the trio for stealing their car.At the police station, Phil decides to call Tracy and tells her that they are enjoying Vegas so much they are staying an extra day. He doesn't tell her that they lost Doug and is forced to hang up when they are taken to the interrogation room. The two officers are angry that the trio stole their car and want to hold them over to be arraigned the following Monday. Phil explains the situation and then attempts to blackmail them into a deal (for losing track of their squad car), which backfires. The officers agree to let the guys off the hook but trick all three into being test subjects for a group of kids, demonstrating the effects of a Taser. The guys agree and weather the effects of being shocked by both the police and a couple of the kids, one of which is determined to get revenge on Alan when Alan kicked him lightly in the squad room.After the demonstration, the trio head over to recover the Mercedes that the police impounded. Stu is surprised that the car is in pristine condition and they then drive back toward the hotel to see if Doug went back. On the way they hear a knocking in the trunk and think that Doug is in the trunk of the car. They open it only to have a flamboyant and naked Asian man named Leslie Chow (Ken Jeong) jump out with a crowbar and attack them. After he runs off naked, Alan admits that he spiked their Jägermeister with the roofies, thinking they were Ecstasy pills. Stu flips out, but Phil plays it cool and the trio returns to the hotel.They are about to enter the hotel room when they remember the tiger. They cautiously open the door to find Mike Tyson and his bodyguard in the room. Tyson is singing "In the Air Tonight" by Phil Collins, getting the guys to join in before knocking Alan out cold. It turns out the tiger belonged to Tyson and the reason they were able to find the hotel room was because they found Doug's jacket and room key in the tiger cage. The trio are terrified because Tyson implies that the tiger may have eaten Doug. Tyson gives them an hour to bring the tiger back to his house. Alan puts five roofies into a raw steak in order to knock out the tiger, and two hours later they cart the tiger into the Mercedes.While driving to Tyson's mansion, the tiger wakes up and scratches Phil's neck. The trio gets out of the car and pushes it the last mile of the way while the tiger chews up the interior of the car. Upon arriving at the mansion, Tyson shows them a security tape of them stealing the tiger and Alan urinating into Tyson's grotto pond. Doug was with them and they put it into a police car but not before Phil screamed, "Look, I'm raping Tyson's tiger" and pantomiming having sex with the animal. Tyson asks where they got the cop car, and gives them props when they tell him they stole it. With no further leads, the group heads back to the hotel.On the way to the hotel, Chow and his men crash their car into the Mercedes and force it into a pole. They tell Phil that he kidnapped Chow, calling him "my lucky charm" and that he wanted to take Chow home with them. The gangsters also noticed that Alan took Chow's purse (which resembles Alan's satchel) with him and that the satchel Chow carried had $80,000 worth of Bellagio casino chips. Phil says they'll return the money, and Chow gives them until sunrise to get it to them and shows them that he has Doug in his SUV with a hood over his face.The gang returns to the hotel and can't find the satchel. They call Jade and let Alan try counting cards in order to win back the $80,000. Alan is a success and they make over $82,000. Just as the security men are about to move in on them for card counting, Jade fakes an accident and Alan and Phil get away. The group drives to the meeting point to make the exchange. They give Chow $80,000 in cash and Chow gives them Doug. Unfortunately, it's the wrong Doug. The Doug that Chow's gangster kidnapped (Mike Epps), who is African American, turns out to be the man who sold Alan the bad Ecstasy. Phil gets mad and tells Chow to give them back their money and to take "Black Doug" with him. Chow refuses and drives away.Phil decides that it is time to end the charade and tell Tracy what happened. We hear the opening play in the background as Black Doug, Stu and Alan discuss the reasoning behind the name roofies. Stu then realizes that they put Doug on the roof of Caesars Palace as a joke but forgot him and locked him up there. The mattress on the statue of Caesar was thrown there by Doug while trying to signal for help. Stu immediately tackles Phil and takes the phone away from him. He tells Tracy that Phil is drunk and that they are heading back now with Doug.The trio race to the hotel and find Doug sunburned and huddling for shade on the roof. Doug attacks Phil when Phil tells him that he is going to miss his own wedding. The group checks out and races to the now ruined Mercedes. Stu and Jade have a heart-to-heart talk and Jade tells him she knows the marriage was a mistake and gives him back his ring. Stu asks her if she wants to go on a date next weekend and she agrees. She also tells him that the reason Stu is missing a tooth is because Alan told him that he wasn't a good enough dentist if he couldn't remove his own tooth. Doug pulls out the missing satchel with Chow's $80,000 in casino chips. It had been left with him on the roof.Phil speeds down the highway on the way to the wedding. A tuxedo shop van drives up and tosses them four tuxedos that they ordered via phone. The group arrive at the wedding a few minutes late. Tracy walks down the aisle with Sid and asks Doug what happened. He explains what happened and tells her it will never happen again as long as they are married. Tracy forgives him and the two get married.Phil is happy to see his wife and son at the reception and spends the evening happy to be home. Alan and Stu are drinking at the bar when Melissa shows up. Melissa is mad that Stu didn't call at all and ignored her calls. She flips out when she sees he's missing a tooth. Stu finally can't take it anymore and flips out on her. She asks him when their relationship stopped working and Stu loudly announces that it was over when she had sex with the sailor on the cruise. Phil smiles proudly while Doug and Tracy look on in shock. Alan corrects him by saying it was a bartender, and Stu laughs. He tells Alan that they should go dance, which they do. Afterwards, Alan hits on Melissa and gets shot down.The guys are all gathered on the patio when Alan walks up with Stu's camera he found lodged in the backseat of the car; it contains photos of their adventures and mishaps in Las Vegas. They decide to look at the photos once and then delete the evidence.During the credits, the pictures are shown:* A bunch of photos with Phil, Doug, Alan and Stu hanging out with strippers
* Stu and Jade hooking up at the strip club.
* Chow, Alan and Phil gambling
* Phil and Doug doing cocaine with Carrot Top
* Doug posing in front of Tyson's mansion with the stolen police car and the officer's shotgun
* Tyson asleep next to a blonde
* Alan asleep next to Tyson and a blonde
* Alan firing a shotgun at the statue at Caesars Palace
* Doug asleep on the roof
* Alan pretending to rape Doug
* Alan getting a blow job from a hotel maid
* Stu and Jade's wedding
* Stu ripping his tooth out of his mouth with pliers and the aftermath
* The guys together before the night began.

Review: Office Space is funny, for example, because we've all worked that type of job, put up with that type of boss, and suffered that type of monotonous everyday boredom.Todd Phillips' new movie, The Hangover, is as aptly titled as anything else released this year: it's about a Vegas bachelor party gone horribly awry, in which the groom inexplicably disappears, no one can remember a damned thing, and Mike Tyson wants his tiger back.Yes, we've all had those nights, though perhaps not to such extremes (that's where the exaggeration of comedy serves us).
The Hangover is funny because it takes this cultural ritual -- an American tradition; something almost all of us can relate to -- and finds genuine humour in the pain of its aftermath.I concede that bachelor party movies are not in short supply; the genre (if it is, indeed, a genre) should have probably both begun and ended with the Tom Hanks flick almost three decades ago.
But The Hangover wisely studies the day after rather than the day itself; this is funnier because the plot works backwards, without tacky flashbacks, and much of the evening in question is left to our imagination.While it would be misleading to claim this is a brilliant film (in either regard – as comedy or character study), it's an assured picture that finds its footing immediately and achieves a surprising level of sustenance throughout its running time.
The problem is that it's all so coldly calculated; these films are not funny because a majority of the time they are simply lazy and dishonest.The simplest reason for The Hangover's success in being genuinely funny is the fact that it achieves a rare balance of character and vulgarity.
Helms invests a great deal of nuance into what is ostensibly a throwaway, supporting goofball; this movie, if nothing else, will justly reveal his talents.Cooper uses his looks to his advantage: it's funny to watch handsome people exploit their securities.
It's effective, he's got great chemistry with the other guys, and it's fun to watch such an immoral and ruthless character take center stage in a mainstream comedy.Galifianakis, a cult comedian who I've admired for years, has been struggling quite a while.
Galifianakis has a fair share of the film's funniest dialogue; as far as fat funny guys go, many of them (such as Chris Farley) made the ill-fated mistake of playing dumb in a sharp fashion: hurtful quips and silly one-liners, all self-aware.
Galifianakis plays his character straight and the laughs are subsequently heartier; when he embraces his brother-in-law while nude, the act seems innocently awkward rather than deliberately awkward, and that's what makes it so funny.
Imagine how funny it is when he names a Caucasian baby Carlos, without any shred of condescension or knowing humour.The Hangover is surely destined to become the sleeper comedy hit of 2009, and, more likely, a cult flick in the years to come.
Having said that most of the females in the audience also enjoyed it; kind of an equal opportunity movie to offend all sexes equally.Unlike most trailers that show all the humor in a 60 second clip, this movie will throw so many funny situations at you so quickly that you will be giggling non-stop for the first hour.Then, the introduction of the Mr. Chow part - essential for the plot, but played WAY over the top by Ken Jeong - became distracting.
And I find each of those flicks truly, hilariously, funny.I remember watching Superbad the first time and thinking that that was the funniest movie ever made, when it comes to films with legitimate plots and characters, etc.
My Dad is not a fan of comedy as such and normally sees going to watch films of this type as a chore but to see him laugh as much as my brother and myself at 65 years of age shows how its humor can break not just an age gap but more importantly a persons taste in film.
Set the day before one of the principle character's wedding, the film is primarily seen through eyes of Doug (the groom-to-be), Alan (the lovable moron), Stu (the hopeless one), and Phil (the stud, and in many ways the leader of the pack).
Chemistry is the secret to a good comedy; it is about time somebody shows this understanding.I don't want to reveal too much, but let me tell you this: everything does get explained in the end (except for the chicken aimlessly walking around in the hotel room, but I mean, it's a chicken).
I have to start by saying that my friends and I have been talking about this movie and watching the trailers for weeks, so our expectations were really high.With that being said, this movie didn't just live up to the expectations, it was one of the funniest movie I have seen in a long time.
These boys fall and fall hard, and trying to pick up the pieces of a night they strangely can't remember brought more laughs than the last time I laughed this consistently (that was "There's Something About Mary").The cast never forgets that they are actors here and not on an episode of "Jackass" as Apatow's comedies often feel.
After seeing the movie I was so unimpressed I felt like writing an ironic review praising the fine acting and exquisite plot in this film.
However, since it's currently in the IMDb top 250 and number one in the US box office, being a bit more serious seems like a better choice since I think the irony probably would be lost on most people.The Hangover is about four guys who go to Las Vegas to attend one of the guy's bachelor party.
It's a very excruciating thing to watch a film where even one joke falls flat, in this one which is supposed to be a comedy they turn into string combos of jokes that simply aren't funny.The humor is crude, sexist, violent, and still without going ever going over the line which is a problem.
For example you are supposed to think the fat guy is funny because he is weird and stupid, although he comes off as too pathetic for it to be funny.The plot never draws you in since one does not feel anything for the main characters, they are all unlikeable in their own unique way.
I have found most comedies over the last couple of years to be extremely overrated (especially Seth Rogen movies) and I did start to worry that I didn't have a sense of humour but this film proves that I was right and all the other comedies that have been made recently were wrong.
This movie being rated with a similar rating as such a great films as "Some Like it Hot", "Dr. Strangelove" and "Annie Hall" shocks me.So generic.
Not to slam IMDb, it's a terrific site and I've used it for years, but there needs to be a balance so that people like myself don't get sucked into shelling out my hard-earned money to be dragged through this trash.It starts right off with insipid, re-hashed, foolish-high-school-kid type pranks which drones on to the very end.
Just that alone was upsetting me.I did laugh in a couple of places, but that was after I'd already been sitting there for half an hour kicking myself that I'd actually paid to watch this garbage and that short interval of ha ha didn't make up for the rest of the film which leans heavily on the above-mentioned cheap, low-grade, slutville humor..
I mean you pretty much know that the movie is going to be about a terrible hangover, and it is - but there aren't any very clever jokes, solid characters, or interesting situations where something funny might happen.
I personally know one person that thought this movie was great however he happened to be a 16 year old kid that never seen Superbad or Old School.
With a funny but unspectacular trailer, a plot (guys go to Vegas for bachelor party and crazy things happens) that seems overly familiar, and stars who are relative unknowns there's nothing to suggest anything hugely promising.
'The Hangover' though easily surpasses those by merit of providing regular and consistent laughs amidst backdrop of a frenetic and unrelenting morning after.The problems most comedies face are that they have to put all their best laughs in the trailer, so by the time the film comes around the funniest parts lose their impact and the rest of the film is disappointing in comparison.
Yes we know they wake up with no memory of what went before; there's a baby, a tiger, a chicken, a missing tooth, someone's married a hooker and (in an unsurprisingly bizarre cameo) Mike Tyson turns up...but these moments, albeit hilarious, aren't what make the film tick.
The heart of the film is in the chemistry between the three leads; Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms) and Alan (Zach Galifianakis) are likable and identifiable enough for an audience to go along with events that could quite easily in another context seem ridiculous.
Cooper may already be slightly familiar to some and is undoubtedly a star in the making (having been cast this week as Faceman in the new A Team flick), Helms is best known for his stint in the US version of the office, Galifianakis though has come completely out of the blue and it wouldn't be at all a surprise to see him follow a career path similar to Seth Rogen's post Knocked Up. The missing groom Doug (Justin Bartha) also deserves an honourable mention for slotting effortlessly into the group when around, it's a shame the plot requires him to go missing for the most part.
There's also perfectly pitched cameos for Heather Graham, Jeffrey Tambor, Ken Jeong and best of all Rachael Harris who is magnificently vile as the hapless Stu's wife.Phillips has no qualms puts his characters through the wringer, there's one shocking revelation after another as the people, animals and events they encountered the night before come back to bite them on the ass during the search for Doug.
Everyone I talked to so far had loved this movie.The tale of how three friends tries to find the lost groom before his wedding after their crazy night in Las Vegas.
It's the funniest movie I've ever seen." I should've known then it was going to be awful, considering in most cases his idea of "humor" is about the same as that of a 14 year old boy.
Bradley Cooper's character is a massive jerk (much like his role in the Wedding Crashers, which is a MUCH better movie than this one!), Ed Helms' character is an irritating whiner and Zach Galifianakis character wasn't much better, just stupid irritating.Secondly, the movie tries too hard to be funny.
I'd seen "I Love you man" the previous week and had hoped for something equally funny and enjoyable.Sadly The Hangover is weak, lame, unfunny, poorly cast and really just a total waste of time.
It is about time that we see Bradley Cooper as a leading man, he has performed so well in comedies like Wet Hot American Summer, Wedding Crashers and last year's Yes Man with Jim Carrey.
The characters are likable, the story is something new and different, plus you get a lot of laughs that don't seem like they have been stolen from the Apatow/Sandler movies.
The mark of a good comedy is one that can keep your interest in between the laughs; be it by human drama, character development or in this case, a meandering riddle.What do we really know about a hangover?
That aside the actors put forward such commendable efforts all is soon forgotten and the quick pace and continual humour keeps things fast, fun and frantic.As promised by the trailers, we get a cameo from the Mike Tyson who is funnier for being himself then for his actual performance, darting in an out with a great supporting performance is heather Graham as an escort and Mike Epps makes good use of his time as quote 'Black Doug'.
To hear a movie being touted as the "best reviewed comedy of the year", I was expecting a whole lot more than what I got.
As a long standing admirer of movies and acting, I do enjoy my comedies (as the doctors say, laughter is the best medicine!) Sure, the face of comedy has changed from the sophisticated seventies of Annie Hall, but that isn't a bad thing eitherwhich brings me to the Bro-com or Bromance as I prefer.
(God, I still can't stop laughing as I'm writing this)And before you ask, I have seen this film 6 times already and aim to watch it even more upon its DVD release sometime in October (lucky guess I think).From the posts I've read on this thread, I would agree with some opinions, such as the fact that The Hangover is Sex and the City for men – but funny.
Yes, he's out of shape but that makes him more believable and his deadpan humour gives this movie some of its funniest moments – including the threat of not being afraid to beat-up an old man at the gas station or "the side effects of Roofies is memory loss, remember?" or the side-splittingly hilarious "I didn't know they gave out rings in the Holocaust?" Justin Bartha as (white) Doug: He didn't have a lot to do in this film, but as a testimony to visual comedy, his red face in the end is something else – and pretty sure his on screen bride-to-be couldn't keep a straight face either!
Off hand the "group of guys going to Vegas for a bachelor party" doesn't sound enticing or something that could make for a great movie since it's an epic retread in cinema but director Todd Phillips takes the idea and runs with it.The movie, unlike most, doesn't center around the bachelor party but the next day as the guys try and trace their way through the night and figure out what exactly happened the night before in a drunken haze.The flick plays like a whimsical, drug induced detective story.
It by far exceeded my expectations as thought it was going to be a typical 'bloke' film but from start to finish, I was roaring up.There are many moments that are quite wrong and you feel slightly concerned that you are laughing so hard....baby at the table immediately springs to mind.....but this is a very clever comedy.
I went with a group of completely different kind of people, they all LOVED it.Not only we had a laugh we where sucked into the movie as well, it kept us on the edge of our seat the entire time.
funniest movie of the year, laugh out loud funny!.
Its crazy how they had the regular circle of friends for the movie, the "smart" one (Ed Helmes' character...Andy from the Office) who did some really stupid stuff, marrying Heather Graham though was the smartest thing he has ever done, would be any man's dream come true.
The movie always seems to surprise you, and it is nearly impossible to guess what happens next which is a big plus for me.My one complaint about the movie is that near the end it kind of felt pushed, I would say the last 20 Min, but its all made up for with a great ending, and a few pictures from the wild night during the credits.The movie is pretty vulgar I'm not going to lie, but some of the situations that they are put into are just so funny you can't help but laugh, I remember at one point I was literally in tears, not just watery eyes, tears.If you want to laugh, a lot, See this movie..
You'll laugh at some point in the film.The beginning of the movie gives you a great feeling.
Hot shot of the evening, Bradley Cooper, really gave me the impression like he was an incredible fun person to be around with, and I'd definitely want Phil (his character in the movie) to be my friend in real life.
When I first saw the trailer I thought there is another stupid comedy filled with generic humor, but this movie was just amazing I was laughing during the whole thing.
The plot is old, the actors are well known but somehow the movie is just hilarious, I am absolutely serious when I say that this is the best comedy I have ever seen.
I watched this movie without any real hopes of seeing a great comedy, I was expecting a movie that would make me laugh in certain situations, BUT I was so very wrong.
And so begins their two-day adventure through Vegas trying to find their lost partner and, in the way, discovering the hysterically crazy things they did that night.At first, it may seem like your typical bromedy, and you indulge in the movie's plot expecting to have a few laughs and later forget about it.
The movie laughs with these guys, not at them, most of the time, and that's why, despite having a couple of stupid parts, it never really feels overly dumb.
Rate of Road Trip is 6,4 and rate of Old School is 7, come on guys, these two movies are way better than Hangover.
it is a great movie with so many funny parts that i will be watching it again.
The Hangover had so many different things going on that it is a movie worth watching more than once.
this movie is officially the funniest and best comedy i have ever seen.
it is very hard 2 admit but it is simply just the best comedy ever if not in my top 5 movies of all time.A MUST SEE nd A MUST BUY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
"The Hangover" is what a comedy should be without being a bad movie.