Synopsis
Three groomsmen (Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis) try to put together the pieces of a bachelor party in order to find the missing groom (Justin Bartha) and get him to his wedding.
Who is the Audience for This Movie?
People who like ensemble comedies.
Review
First and foremost The Hangover is an R (or 18A in Canada) rated comedy. It is great to see that R rated comedies are making a comeback. Beverly Hills Cop (a favorite of mine) kick started the trend and the Hangover pushes the rating limitations to the max kick starting the R rated comedy trend again.
Most of the movie follows the three groomsmen so it is a good thing that their comedy styles blend well together. Unfortunately for the other two actors though Zach Galifianakis totally steals every single scene. The other two are really funny but Zach’s character chimes in with comments that take you totally off guard. This movie has a wide variety of hilarious situations and I really liked that its structure is much fresher then most of the comedies coming out nowadays. The astute viewer will notice numerous homage’s to other movies that are set in Vegas. My favorite has to be a car reflecting in sunglasses shot taken directly from Martin Scorsese’s Casino. Make sure you watch the credits because there are some utterly hilarious pictures shown in them.
In almost every comedy there is one sub plot that is not nearly as effective as the movies makers think it is. In this movie there is one involving a tiger and Mike Tyson that ends up taking a lot of movies momentum away. It provides a few laughs but the movie would have been better without it. As is the case in life the outcome is not nearly as interesting as the journey. The Hangover lingers a bit after it has had its fun in Vegas.
