Released June 5, 2009
My 60 year old father took me to delicious Chinese food and to see The Hangover yesterday. I was surprised because the films target audience did not include him or his fiance. Nevertheless, the three of us went to a theatre last night and laughed together as Todd Phillips (Old School, Road Trip, Starsky and Hutch) delivered another comedy that defines our generation (Next?). The Hangover in no ways matches or surpasses Old School. Actually, it does not come close using my flawless Laugh-o-meter. All but a couple of the characters lacked the stupidity or outlandishness that I crave in a comedy. Do not misread this review please, this is a funny movie. However, I would be fine seeing this movie at home. Please consider that I do not regularly see comedies in the theatre for their lack of explosions and other aesthetically pleasing things. Obviously, I do plan on seeing G.I. Joe in the IMAX.
In The Hangover, the story about a debaucherous bachelor party is classic. However, the B movie stars who form the central characters have little to work with as they struggle to demonstrate consistent comedic attributes easily. Alan Garner played by comedian and rising star Zack Galifianakis (Super High Me, Out Cold) does deliver the needed knee slapping humor in nearly every scene. The other characters are better than others, but nothing extraordinary.
I do think that the dialog written by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore was truly hysterical. Many of the funny lines were just great lines that fell into the actors lap. Comedian Mike Epps plays Black Doug and shines as always; while cops played by Rob Riggle and Cleo King are also hilarious. The funniest character was by far the always awesome Ken Jeong (Knocked Up, Pineapple Express, Role Models) who caused the audience to erupt in response to his role - gangster Mr. Chow. Jeong is a physician which earned him the name "Dr. Ken". He is always good as any character and was on tv shows such as The Office, Entourage, and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Dr. Ken steals the movie in three or four scenes. An interesting note is that there is already Hangover 2 set for 2011.
It was a fun night at the movies which my father pointed out as we left on an unseasonably cool St. Louis night in July. My only caution is that the pictures shown as the credits roll at the end are not for children or churchgoers. Go see it for sure if you like to laugh.
3 out of 4
(Review by Thomas Demerath)
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