The Hangover

The premise for The Hangover is simple enough, an impending groom, two close friends, and an impending brother-in-law head for Vegas for a final "blow-out" before the wedding. The Vegas bachelor party has become as American as apple pie so what better way to celebrate before the big day? Well, just about any other way would have worked out better for these guys. Bradley Cooper plays Phil, the de facto leader of the crew, while Justin Bartha plays Doug, the soon to be groom. We don't see too much of Doug because in the midst of the gang's alcohol induced haze he's either been lost, kidnapped or misplaced. The guys spend most of the film trying to figure out what happened to him, and them, since their hangover has not only produced the usual ailments, but amnesia as well. Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis round out the crew playing the "whipped" friend of the groom and "very special" future brother-in-law, respectively. These guys all play their well worn roles for maximum comic effect and the film works quite well as a mindless, and very funny comedy. There's a number of quite hysterical set-pieces involving Mike Tyson, a tiger, and couple of really annoyed cops, one being the very funny, and intense Rob Riggle. If you've seen the trailers you also know that Ed Helms spends most of film missing a tooth. Just learning how this happened is practically worth the price of admission. Sit back and enjoy, and go easy on the Jagermeister.

Rating - 3 (solid)