The Hangover (2009)

The Hangover is a fun comedy from director Todd Philips (Old School, Road Trip) which follows four friends who go to Vegas two nights before their friend Doug’s (Justin Bartha) wedding. While there they accidentally take rooffies in their drinks, resulting in a series of drunken adventures that inevitably lead to the next morning where they can’t remember anything they did the night before and to make matters worse, their friend Doug has gone missing.

The basic scenario of a group of guys getting so drunk that they have to retrace their steps in order to discover something is not new (think Dude, Where’s my Car? but with a person), but this film manages to stand out, mainly thanks to the performances of the three main actors and Todd Philips' smart pacing. The main characters, outside of Doug who spends the majority of the film M.I.A, are Phil (Bradley Cooper), the more arrogant and cocky leader of the group, Stu (Ed Helms), the reserved Dentist who’s in a failing relationship with a very cruel woman (Rachael Harris) and finds that he married a single mother stripper during the party, and Alan (Zach Galifianakis) the soon to be brother-in-law of Doug who is just a little bit off (and that is the best way to describe him). All three of the characters are not particularly hilarious on their own (though each are funny in their own way), and that’s part of what makes the film work. They feel like relatively normal guys trying to deal with (often) absurd situations that aren’t exactly their fault, including an encounter with a crazed Asian mob boss, traveling around in a stolen police car, and dealing with the repercussions of having stolen Mike Tyson’s pet tiger. Their reactions are often reasonable and the dynamic between the characters makes for some great scenes. They even seem genuinely worried about their missing friend, which brings a small amount of reality to their situation.

Though there are only a few standout hysterical scenes such as Zach Galifianakis getting punched and immediately knocked out by Mike Tyson or Ed Helms singing about their predicament on the piano while waiting for a tiger to pass out, most of the film manages to just maintain a consistently high level of humor which makes it very enjoyable to watch. Another aspect of the film that works in its benefit is the pacing set by Todd Philips. The film is relatively short (about 100 minutes) and the characters are constantly on the move, going from one place to the next, searching for their friend or at least a clue that will lead them to him. Nearly every scene takes place in a different location and there is never the sense that a scene or a joke has gone on for too long; the comedic moments are quick and timed just right. The focus of finding their friend is never brushed aside for a gag, either. Every scene somehow relates to this overall objective and this contributes to the flow of the story. All this makes The Hangover not only enjoyable, but ideal for repeated viewings.