The Hangover (2009)

One of the most creative comedies I have seen in a long time, this film tells the story of a close brotherhood, and inspired not only one but two sequels (I will also be reviewing these two sequels in good time, so stay tuned).

Doug (Justin Bartha) is getting married to Tracy (Sasha Barrese), but before the wedding, he is having one final night to celebrate his singleness with his closest friends. Together with schoolteacher Phil (Bradley Cooper), dentist Stu (Ed Helms) and Tracy’s brother Alan (Zach Galifianakis), he is on a road trip to Las Vegas for a night of partying, drinking and gambling.

Everyone is on board with this relatively simple plan, except for Stu’s girlfriend Melissa (Rachael Harris) who is so controlling, Stu isn’t able to tell her the truth, and has told her they are going to a wine tasting weekend in Napa Valley.

Stu (Ed Helms), Alan (Zach Galifianakis) and Phil (Bradley Cooper).

But when they get to Vegas, as they celebrate with the first drink of the night, they get so drunk that, waking up the next morning, they have absolutely no memory of anything that happened the night before.

Usually, this wouldn’t be a problem, except for the fact that when they wake up, Doug is missing, and since none of them can remember what happened, they don’t even know where to begin looking for him.

And with a tiger in the bathroom, a baby in the closet, and a stolen police car as their transport instead of the convertible they drove to Vegas in, their night was obviously a lot crazier than any of them first thought.

The four guys enjoying their first drink of the night.

And so it begins: a race against time to retrace their drunken steps to find Doug again and get back to Los Angeles in time for the wedding, a race which sees them fleeing for their lives on more occasions than they might choose, as little by little, the pieces of the puzzle fall into place.

Jon Lucas & Scott Moore have written a very clever screenplay which, while the humour does resort to crudeness on a couple of occasions, is overall very cleverly constructed comedy. The characters are all very clearly defined, with more than their fair share of conflicts, both internal and external, and the ways these three characters relate to one another provides ample opportunities for humour as well. The film, as a result, feels like a very different type of comedy than the standard, stereotypical buddy movie we have all seen too many times before.

Lawrence Sher’s cinematography is absolutely beautiful, and not only because of the gorgeous landscape the film takes place in. Sher’s use of light and shadow, and numerous moments of visual contrast, is a wonder to behold, again separating this film from the stereotypes we have seen far too often.

Stu (Ed Helms) and Melissa (Rachael Harris).

Even the score is unlike anything one might expect from other films. Christophe Beck has cleverly scored this film - just the right amount too, it is by no means over-saturated with music - in order to highlight not only the comedic moments, but the various dramatic moments as well. It is so cleverly done, that the score more resembles a more serious dramatic movie rather than a comedy.

The performances of the cast - particularly those of the three leads - are exceptional. The three leads all possess excellent comic timing, and play off each other so well that it is easy to accept that they have an extensive history together as characters. There are other great performances too, but to mention the performers by name would potentially spoil a lot of the surprises that are in store, so I will not do so here.

Director Todd Phillips has made a very clever film here, a film that was much cleverer than I was expecting. If you haven’t seen it, it may well be worth a look.

8 out of 10.