Running time: 100 minutes
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Heather Graham, Jeffrey Tambor, Justin Bartha, Ed Helms, Zach Galafianakis
Rating 7 out of 10
Director Todd Phillips made his name with Old School, which took the familiar fratboy comedy routine and placed it firmly in the hands of a group of fortysomethings (making a star of Will Ferrell along the way) with hilarious consequences. Since then he's made the Starsky and Hutch remake along with a new version of School for Scoundrels, neither of which hit particular comedic highs.
However Phillips is well and truly back to his best with The Hangover, a huge hit in the United States where it has reached the top of the box office chart despite a resounding lack of star power. It may even signal a change in Hollywood output as countless producers will undoubtedly start chasing male buddy scripts which may not cost a fortune to make.
The Hangover is a neatly plotted affair which falls somewhere between a concept movie and an old-fashioned Hollywood thriller. A group of guys - all approaching middle age and dealing with life and relationships in their own different ways - head for a blast in Sin City on a stag party. We don't see what happens overnight: instead we see the gang waking up early the next morning with various bizarre injuries, a baby, a tiger in their hotel suite, and various items having disappeared, including the groom himself.
As the group try to piece together what happened we are treated to an often hysterically funny reconstruction of the night's events. Heather Graham pops up as one of the gang's new wife, a very camp Chinese criminal hunts them down and Mike Tyson (yes, Mike Tyson) does a credible job of playing a version of himself.
There are some outrageous comedy scenes: when Tyson takes them back to his house to look at his CCTV footage for example, or a short scene involving changing into tuxedoes. Any male taking his girlfriend on a date may have to face some payback by seeing something more traditional in exchange, but the effort will have been worth it.
Paul Hurley
However Phillips is well and truly back to his best with The Hangover, a huge hit in the United States where it has reached the top of the box office chart despite a resounding lack of star power. It may even signal a change in Hollywood output as countless producers will undoubtedly start chasing male buddy scripts which may not cost a fortune to make.
The Hangover is a neatly plotted affair which falls somewhere between a concept movie and an old-fashioned Hollywood thriller. A group of guys - all approaching middle age and dealing with life and relationships in their own different ways - head for a blast in Sin City on a stag party. We don't see what happens overnight: instead we see the gang waking up early the next morning with various bizarre injuries, a baby, a tiger in their hotel suite, and various items having disappeared, including the groom himself.
As the group try to piece together what happened we are treated to an often hysterically funny reconstruction of the night's events. Heather Graham pops up as one of the gang's new wife, a very camp Chinese criminal hunts them down and Mike Tyson (yes, Mike Tyson) does a credible job of playing a version of himself.
There are some outrageous comedy scenes: when Tyson takes them back to his house to look at his CCTV footage for example, or a short scene involving changing into tuxedoes. Any male taking his girlfriend on a date may have to face some payback by seeing something more traditional in exchange, but the effort will have been worth it.
Paul Hurley
