Todd Phillips Directs The Hangover
Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bertha Star
Jun 28, 2009
The trailer for The Hangover does nothing to give hope the film may be better than the low expectations it appears to be aiming for. Knowing that director Todd Phillips tends to churn out low-brow fare for the simple male stereotype (Road Trip, Old School, Starsky & Hutch) perpetuates the dread further still. Strong word of mouth can win over even strongly ominous feelings, however, and The Hangover is certainly an enjoyable enough viewing--fun performances and more than a few chuckles make for a nice mindless break.
What Happens In Vegas...
The story is simple and never pretends to be anything but. The acting starts out on the stilted side, but warms up fairly quickly. Starting with three groomsmen who have not only lost the groom but are beyond worse for wear, the story spends most of its time in flashback trying to answer the big question, "What happened last night?" The Hangover is worst when it's being stereotypical, unfunny and obvious all at once. Luckily, these things don't dog the film consistently.
Rare, but Genuinely Inspired Humor
Two sequences stand out in the film as having involved the most fun and love: the first helps the film break away from the dull path it had otherwise been following. This is, of course, the morning of the post-party scene where the guys wake up (in various states of confusion and disarray) in their hotel room villa. An abbreviated summary still includes a tiger in the bathroom, a chicken puttering around, Stu's (Ed Helms) mysterious missing tooth and the sheer destruction of the room itself.
The second is the very end of the film. The guys finally find photographic evidence of exactly what transpired the night before. They agree to look at it just once, then delete it forever. The digital pics play alongside the credits for some shocking and humorous candid "drunk" shots (a prosthetic erect penis taking the place of a real one saves the film from an NC-17).
Wishing the Sights Were Set a Little Higher
A lot of the humor is not only obvious but unnecessary and sometimes borders on insensitive (a movie centering on simple male humor can be a fun guilty pleasure, but throwing in useless fat jokes or going for cheap visual gags of a naked elderly man are frankly, just dumb). Less often, the movie shoots a little further than the predictable. Dreading the valet return of the groom's father-in-law's Mercedes when they start backtracking, the film surprises by not presenting them with a trashed car but rather a police car they stole at some point in the night. More moments like this might make the film worth revisiting.
As it stands, decent performances from well-seasoned comedic talents make The Hangover mostly worth sitting through. No one is claiming to expect more from a film like this, intellectually speaking, but for such well-worn material, more inspired effort would be appreciated.
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