I haven't been a fan of the so-called "frat pack" movies like "Old School," "Anchorman," and "Wedding Crashers." I just didn't really find Will Farrell and Vince Vaughn very funny. So I didn't have much hope for a movie directed by the guy who did "Old School" and the lame "School for Scoundrels." So I was pretty surprised that I enjoyed the movie.
As implied by the title, "The Hangover" is about four friends who go to Las Vegas on the eve of a wedding. Doug is the groom-to-be who's being given one final taste of single life. The problem is after a night of partying, Doug has vanished. Adding to the problem is that his groomsmen: sauve already-married Phil (Bradley Cooper); whipped soon-to-be-engaged dentist Stu (Ed Helms); and chubby, hairy future brother-in-law Alan (Zach Galifianakis) don't have any memory of what happened after a toast on the roof of Caesar's.
Most of the movie then is devoted to Doug's friends trying to figure out important questions like: whose baby is in the closet, how did Stu lose a tooth, and how did a tiger get in the bathroom? And in figuring this out they hope to figure out what happened to their friend so they can get him to the wedding on time without getting caught.
I think what made this movie for me is that it's set up like a mystery. If it had been straight-ahead one thing after another it might have still had funny moments but it would have been more generic. Instead, it becomes fun to try and outguess the guys as they piece together the clues. Sometimes you're right and sometimes you're wrong but the guessing keeps you involved with the story.
Of course as you'd expect there's some crudity involved. There's plenty of bad language, though most of the sexual situations are saved until the end. So obviously if you're not into lower-brow humor this won't be your cup of tea. Still, I thought it was a lot better than the movies I listed at the beginning.
That is all.
My score: 75/100 (3 stars)
Metacritic score: 73/100 (3 stars)
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