As cool, crude and wildly enjoyable as the modern Sodom in which it is set, Todd Phillips’ The Hangover makes great comedy look easy. No surprises at all that it became the breakout Hollywood blockbuster of 2009 – it is a chemically-enhanced, chemistry-rich blast from start to finish.
Phillips wisely takes a few extra minutes setting up the home lives of the four boy-men who are about to unhinge themselves during a bucks night in Las Vegas. Groom Doug (Justin Bartha) is a stand-up guy, deeply in love with his wife-to-be Tracey (Sascha Barrese) and looking forward to fun times for the last time, with his best friends Stuart (Ed Helms), a dentist with a horrific control-freak for a girlfriend, and Phil (Bradley Cooper), a studly, cool wild-guy with a soft side; and the bride’s brother Alan (a scene-stealing Zach Galifianakis), an outsider with some very odd views on...well, everything, makes up the party of four.
Sparing the viewer the debauched details of their night on the town/tiles (until the hilarious slide-show which accompanies the closing credits), the film takes flight when the group, sans Doug, wake in their hotel room much the worse for wear. Somehow through the course of their sordid evening, they have acquired a chicken, a baby, a police car, $80,000 and a tiger; incurred the wrath of camp gangster-wannabe Mr. Chow (Ken Jeong, in one of the funniest support turns of the year) and former Super Heavyweight world champion Mike Tyson; and, in Stuart’s case, become married to a lovable stripper named Jade (Heather Graham).
And so the film unfolds in a sort-of reverse order narrative as the heavily-hungover trio try to retrace their steps, find the missing groom before the wedding the next day and avoid or deal with as many of the consequences of their actions as they invariably uncover.
The Hangover sets a cracking pace and spontaneous bursts of character-driven profanity and throwaway comedy make every line play like a well-timed gag. Phillips weaves free-flowing dialogue, well-staged set pieces and believable motivations into a fully-rounded comedy. The confident fluidity of his early works, Road Trip (2000) and Old School (2003), was missing from the disappointing Starsky & Hutch (2004) and the abysmal School For Scoundrels (2006). But he has well and truly got his comedy-mojo back with The Hangover, expertly handling what could’ve been a very plot-heavy, contrived storyline.
Every one of the key cast members comes out looking good. The film’s success has turned the photogenic Cooper into Hollywood’s It-boy, but Helms and Galifianakis earn some of the film’s biggest laughs; strong support turns are provided by the veteran Jeffery Tambor, Rachael Harris as Stuart’s nasty girlfriend and comedian Mike Epps as 'Black Doug’. Sin City has never look so alluring and lushly sexy as it does through the lens of cinematographer Lawrence Sher, an experienced filmer of funny stuff having worked on I Love You Man (2009), Dan In Real Life (2007), The Dukes of Hazzard (2005) and Garden State (2004). And the soundtrack has some well-chosen, expertly-placed tunes as well, including the resurrection of The Belle Stars 'Iko Iko’ in a very funny referencing of Raymond Babbit’s casino visit in Barry Levinson’s Rain Man (1988).
For the final big laugh, make sure to check out the 'gag reel’ on the DVD extras, which provides a perfect insight just how much fun it is make a comedy – and control one’s urge to laugh - when on-set chemistry is peaking.
