The Hangover (2009)

July 26, 2009

Guild 45th, Seattle, WA

*** ½ / ****

By Scott Muoio

Three buddies and a brother-in-law travel to Las Vegas for a bachelor party they’ll never forget. A lion, a baby, Mike Tyson and all manner of crude but very funny humour in the vein of a modern Bachelor Party make this the funniest movie of the year.

Where lesser comedies hedge their bets with obnoxious characters that shout every line or compete with one another for every second of screen time, The Hangover creates real characters reminiscent of people we’ve seen in our own lives. The laughs come not out of endless repetition or a screenwriter projecting his or her own inside jokes on flimsy caricatures but rather the natural utterings and quirks of three dimensional characters that say and do what they do because that’s what they would and should do. It’s a refreshing change of pace for a genre screaming for a new course.

The breakout star of the film is unquestionably Zach Galifianakis. Galifianakis’s pitch perfect performance as the sachel wearing, bearded blunderkind, Alan is masterful. With an odd speaking cadence, unique body language, and the ability to subtly bring the funny without ever relying on over-the-top antics modern comedians force upon their audience Galifiankis is a revelation.

Another revelation is the script by John Lucas and Scott Moore. While satisfying the crudeness quotient with just enough perversity, bad language, and nudity to appease both prudes and the depraved, the script only once veers into Judd Apatow-land, that vortex of forced obnoxiousness that relies on ignoble, unrealistic assholes rather than clever realism to capture our attention. True to life characters stomping through fun silliness while all the while holding form to their personality traits isn’t always an easy thing to accomplish, especially in comedy, but The Hangover succeeds with gusto.

Director: Todd Phillips

Producer: Todd Phillips, Daniel Goldberg

Writer: John Lucas, Scott Moore

Starring: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Heather Graham, Justin Bartha, Jeffrey Tambor

Original Music: Christophe Beck

Cinematographer: Lawrence Sher

Editor: Debra Neil-Fisher