The Principals: Todd Phillips (director). Bobcat Goldthwait (writer). Bradley Cooper. Ed Helms. Zach Galifanakis. Heather Graham. Justin Bartha. Mike Tyson. A baby. A tiger. Ken Jeong.
The Premise: A
group of friends take their buddy on one last Vegas romp before his wedding and wake up the next day remembering nothing, short one friend, and in all sorts of trouble.
Is it Good: No it isn’t good. It’s fucking champion. A film like this has no right being this good but The Hangover is an absolutely and wholly mainstream comedy that is funny as hell, smart, quotable, and one that delivers on repeat viewings. In the past decade the genre has become a place to follow talent. You stick with guys like Apatow, McKay, Phillips, and Mottola… you’re usually in good shape. Shit, if you expand that circle to actors you have possibly the best group since the 70’s and that first burst of SNL energy. That said, just about all those guys have gotten big and have expanded their work and in some respects spread themselves too thin [extended family work like School for Scoundrels, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story being examples] to maintain that quality control. The Hangover could have been a Strange Wilderness. Compare the casts.
But it’s not. It’s a bona fide classic. It’s not a 40 Year Old Virgin [which has aged very well and was a game changer] or Anchorman [the best comedy of the decade] but it’s right below them in very good company and the best Todd Phillips comedy by far. Yes, including Old School which is fine but in a different class.
There’s some amazing chemistry between the leads, something that defies the norm. Cooper delivers in spades here, and it’s his performance I spend the most time watching over repeat viewings. Being a virtual unknown to most of the world, Zach gets the big moments and its his performance that’s a game changer but Cooper and Helms make it possible for Zach to strut his stuff. Really amazing work from these three.
Great moments, a good balance of really dumb and really smart comedy, and a pitch-perfect cast up and down. This is that rare pop-culture sensation that’s worth every accolade.
Here’s how good this flick is. It has a stunt casting celebrity cameo and not only does it not ruin the film but helps make for a few solid laughs.
Is it Worth a Look: Yes. Several.
Random Anecdotes: Sasha Barrese, who plays the wife-to-be, is not unattractive. I love the scene with Eddie at the wedding chapel, especially his little diatribe about the women he can obtain for the boys. I can tolerate Heather Graham here, which is saying something. Any women in the real world even close to being similar to Ed Helms’ squeeze should be packed into a large cannon and fired into the sea at a high rate of speed.This is actually a really well-shot film.
Cinematic Soulmates: Old School. Very Bad Things. Koyaanisqatsi.
This Film’s Movie of the Day Message Board Discussion.
11 comments
As far as I'm concerned, Walk Hard is right up there with Anchorman and 40 Year Old Virgin… at least in terms of comedy. In terms of box office receipts, it is much much lower.
So apparently Bobcat Goldthwait wrote this one too. Geez, it was really his year, wasn't it? What else did he do, eat your proofreader?
Maybe my expectations were too high, but I was just bored to death by this movie. I admit, Zach had his moments and the end made the price of admission somewhat worth it, but besides that I kept thinking to myself, "I swear I have seen this movie before…"
Isn't it a bit redundant to make something like this the Movie Of The Day? It was one of the biggest hits of the summer, marketing was saturated – it hardly needs this extra tiny sliver of exposure, which ends up reading like an advertising feature for the DVD release. I thought CHUD was all about championing the little films that deserve the attention, not reinforcing the marketing message of a box office smash. World's Greatest Dad is an excellent choice. This is a lazy one.
Saw it once. Didn't like it. Saw it again. Laughed my ass off. Great movie.
Apparently Nick and I just don't see eye-to-eye when it comes to some recent comedies. IMO: Forgetting Sarah Marshall > Old School > The Hangover
"I thought CHUD was all about championing the little films that deserve the attention"
Only if there are set visits or "exclusive" interviews involved.
This movie just bored the arse off me. I go so sick of 'WE CANT REMEMBER' being spouted to every new character. Only bit that made me laugh out loud was the doctors reply when asked if he knew where the chapel was 'sure, it's on the corner of fuck off and buy a map' (or similar). I am in the minority though as all my friends absolutly love this movie. Maybe expectations were too high but it's just so-so for me.
Saw it once, laughed a couple times, nothing spectactular. Whos ben affleck and wheres that bitch princess kate?
Wow, you would have to be a complete douche to NOT like this film. I can't even imagine what would pass for a comedy in the eyes of anyone who didn't like The Hangover. Boggles the mind.
a bona fide classic? more like generic and utterly forgettable. still, it was about 50 bazillion times better than grizzly park!
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