A Night to Remember

4/5

The Hangover follows Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms) and Alan (Zach Galifianakis) as they desperately try to find Doug (Justin Bartha) who was lost during the world's craziest bachelor party. Opening with a clip of Phil telling Doug's soon to be bride (Sasha Barrese) that they're not going to make it to the wedding on time then going back three days and getting a brief set up to the partying that would ensue, we witness the destruction of their hotel room the morning after...

I haven't cried at a movie in quite a while and this movie brought tears to my eyes. Watching each of the three groomsmen wake up to their hotel room laid waste was absolutely hysterical. I haven't laughed so hard in a looooong time. The rest of the movie was equally as funny. The three main characters were wonderfully fleshed out, each actor brought so much to their respective roles. It was delightful grimacing as the three misfits try so hard to recover their lost groom, all the while only getting into more and more trouble.

The supporting cast were all nicely filled in, all of them either helped give depth to the main characters or helped move the story along. Jon Lucas and Scott Moore wrote a wonderful script that had you roaring in laughter at nearly every new turn. I did have a couple of complaints though. The language, though not as bad as other movies I've seen, was quite strong. I was surprised at how "mild" the rest of the content was until... the pre-credit clips. These took a movie with a weak R rating and nearly turned it into a NC-17 romp. The movie didn't benefit from these at all. Spoiler (highlight to view): At the end of the film the characters find a digital camera containing pictures of their misadventures, they decide to view the pictures once then delete them. The characters' initial reactions of horror and disgust is exactly how the audience responds as we see pictures of strippers, throw-up and a couple of Alan getting "pleasured" in a elevator. The credits could have simply rolled after we saw the characters' reactions to it. That would have been more than enough.

Pros:
Excellent casting. Invested characters and with depth and realism each of which brought something very unique to the story. Very well written script.

Cons:
Pre-credit clips, completely unnecessary. One brief bit of nudity during the movie that again didn't do anything for the story or characters, why do directors do this? Unless it's alluded to in a preview it's not going to sell any extra tickets so again I ask, why?

Bottom Line:
HILARIOUS! This movie is easily one of the funniest movies I've ever watched. The director, Todd Phillips, brings to the table exactly what he did in Old School and again scores big with the audience. I can't say it's a must see in theaters, but anyone who enjoys awkward and/or mildly crude humor will find their sides cramping from laughter by the movies end.