The Hangover
Last night I saw a film that may be the funniest movie of recent memory. It was the perfect blend of dialogue, physical comedy, and plausible plot for a comedy; not to mention that its running time was the exact amount needed (95 minutes), unlike some other comedies that have the dreaded “last 25 minutes” that were not needed.
The Hangover was directed by the same guy who basically opened the Rated R Comedy flood gates nearly a decade ago with Old School, Todd Phillips (Who doesn’t love the Jew-Fro and Track Suit look?). The casting of this movie was simply phenomenal, from the main characters (Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, and Zach Galifianakis) who finally got a chance to take center stage in a flick, to all the great cameo appearances as well. And let’s not forget the always enjoyable Jeffrey Tambor (“Vegas”!).
The premise starts out normally, but as the night unfolds, it can be described as anything but. Every man has gone to a bachelor party at some point for one of their boys, however, not all of them woke up the next morning with livestock and a random baby in their suite. From the first moment of this movie, the laughter comes out in heavy doses, and does not let up for even a minute throughout its duration. (On a more personal note, I had not been covered in tears that much since I was a kid and I had heard that my favorite cartoon was being cancelled.)
This comedy is utterly hilarious! I feel as though I must go see it again, like NOW, for two reasons: it was so great that I want to relive the magic, and secondly, due to the amount of laughs in the theater, many of the lines got swallowed up by the sound (Rant - this is a whole other topic, that I will hold off on for now). How many movies can give you that feeling THE MOMENT it ends? And as for the ending credits, there may never have been a more raucous 3 minute montage EVER! I usually stay and watch the credits for any funny nuggets, like the ending of this classic, but nothing is as good as the finale of this movie.
All in all, this movie delivers on every level and may well be the best film of the 2009 year, so far. Saying that means somehting because when I was sitting in the theater waiting for it to begin, I kept thinking of all the hype surrounding the movie and I was hoping not to be disappointed like many movie do to us. I did not feel a single second of let down. This flick measured up and even pushed the bar up even higher for future comedies. So see it yourselves and spread the word. GET ON IT!!!
