The Hangover (2009)

When the trailers for this film came out, I thought it looked like another utterly stupid comedy. It employs a familiar concept, no big-name stars, and the characters seemed to embody typical modern comedy stereotypes (the cool guy, the straight man, and the weird awkward guy). Despite all of the warning signals flashing through my brain from the trailers, The Hangover takes all of these conventions and makes them work. The end result is quite possibly the best R-rated comedy of the decade.

Doug Billings (Justin Bartha) is getting married. To celebrate, his best friends and soon-to-be brother-in-law take him to Las Vegas for a bachelor party. The next morning, the guys wake up but Doug is missing. No one remembers what happens but Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms) and Alan (Zach Galifianakis) are on the clock. They have to trace their way back through a night they can’t recall in order to find Doug and get him to his wedding, which is just days away.

To complicate matters, the trio of groomsmen has only a few very bizarre clues to work with. There’s a baby in the closet and a tiger in the bathroom, neither of which belong to them. Along the way to solving these other mysteries, there are strippers, naked men bound in the trunk, a stolen police car, Mike Tyson, Asian gangsters and drug dealers. Despite these seemingly insurmountable odds, Phil, Stu and Alan refuse to give up their search for Doug.

The key to this film’s success is its comedic structure. Instead of parading around a few witty characters who are looking to crack jokes or dispense intentional stupid humor a la Will Ferrell or Chris Farley, The Hangover is all about situational and unintentional humor. There have been plenty of lousy ‘what happened to us last night’ and ‘put the zany puzzle pieces together’ films (Dude, Where’s My Car anyone?), so the fact that our main characters must sift through a whole lot of weirdness isn’t original. The individual puzzle pieces themselves are quite hilarious though and it does all make sense in the end.

Phil, Stu and (to a point) Alan are believable characters. That’s one of the hardest things to create in a comedy. These guys don’t exist for the sole purpose of being funny. This refreshing change of pace is probably best supported by not having a major name comedian as one of the leads. Sure, Ed Helms is on The Office, but in a supporting role. Bradley Cooper was mostly a supporting actor until this film as well, and Galifianakis was a virtual unknown to anybody but fans of late night Comedy Central programming. By not having a true ‘star’ to hog screen time and demand funnier lines, the director is able to get what he wants out of his cast.

Again, the main characters are all realistic people. Alan is more than a little odd but he’s not the train wreck I assumed from the trailers. His social awkwardness makes the things he says and does funny. Any other treatment of this character would have been groan-inducing. The same is true for Phil and Stu. Had either of them been more focused on cracking jokes and being a wise guy, the film wouldn’t have worked. Instead, all three are focused on finding their friend. The fear, frustration, confusion and surprise they experience while moving towards that goal is what makes it funny.

This realistic approach also saves the film from coming off as obscene. This is an R-rated comedy that makes full use of that rating. If you do not like swearing, this movie is not for you. There is a ton of it to be found but most of the cursing is used in situationally appropriate ways. The guys don’t merely walk around cursing like sailors because they can or because the writers know that the mere use of the F-word will produce a few chuckles from immature viewers. It proudly wears the badge of vulgarity but is wise to avoid passing the point of no return and degrading into obscenity.

While not truly start-to-finish funny (does such a thing even exist, anyway?), The Hangover packs a heck of a wallop. It’s funny when it needs to be funny, serious when it needs to be serious and cheesy when it needs to be cheesy. I can’t help but wonder if the cast and crew secretly had notes on the failings of all the other successful comedies made in the 2000s. How else could they have possibly made a film that does just about everything right?

If you can handle crude R-rated comedies, this gem is for you. If you have no sense of humor or your ears catch fire at the sound of words unfit for broadcast television, consider yourself warned. The Hangover was a surprise hit in theaters and with me. If you’re skeptical or have heard too much hype about this film, you’ve got to give this one a chance. It just might make a believer out of you too.

RATING: 4 out of 5