Todd Phillips' 'The Hangover' proves unexpectedly to be one of the funniest and most charming American comedies in a long time.
The trailer and poster for 'The Hangover' did not appeal to my tastes at all. In fact when people tried to lure me into the cinema for it in Edinburgh, I kicked and screamed for going to 'Transformers 2' instead. 'The Hangover' appear to me to be a redux of 'Dude, Where's My Car?' and for me that lost to a film about giant robots beating the shit out of each other. This judgment owed a lot to me ignorance, at the time I did not realise that it was the new film from Todd Phillips of 'Old School' and 'Starsky & Hutch'.
When I got back to London, I expressed my hesistance when meeting some friends in a pub in Angel. My friends, who had already seen the film, were quick to defend the film and encouraged me to go and see it rather than being one of those who judge films before they have seen them (see: numerous responses to 'Antichrist'). Days went past and eventually I found myself in the cinema for 'The Hangover'.
The set-up of the film is simple enough (and does invite the comparisons to 'Dude...'), a group of three men wake up on the floor of a hotel room in Las Vegas after a buck's party for their best friend Doug. None can remember the night before and none have any idea where Doug is now, the day before his wedding. The three set out across the city, retracing their steps from the night before and encountering the many unusual characters that inhabit Vegas in an effort to find their friend.
The first indication that this film is going to be something different to the expectations come in the opening credits. It is a montage of images of Las Vegas that throws off the cliches, for this film the city is a bleak nightmare, matched by the grim soundtrack, it is not a glitzy city, this film is not glamorizing the lifestyle. It is a sinful world that our man-child protagonists will have to survive to emerge mature and qualified for adult life.
The success of the film and the audience's eagerness to follow the lead characters to their drunken depths is secured by the pitch perfect performances by the three actors previously unseen in lead roles. Their low-profiles and their unconscious performances give them a down-to-earth attitude that makes them appealing and likable as comic talent. These men lack the assumption that the audience will automatically laugh at them, a quality that is too common to the Ben Stiller/Judd Apatow generation.
More than that this film lacks the 'tender moments' of the Judd Apatow comedies, which is somewhat refreshing as men-loving-men themes are quickly becoming stale. You never doubt the friendship of these men and the love they feel towards each other but Phillips doesn't need to ram it home at every opportunity.
The film does at moments feel forced and that is a shame considering its overall natural quality. Nowhere is this more true than in the Mike Tyson cameo. The tiger sequence is very amusing, but Tyson's appearance pulls you out of the film and his acting is dismal, he only provides one real laugh and this mostly from the counter-performance from Zach Galifianakis.
This certainly isn't the comedy of the year (that title would still belong to 'In The Loop') but it perhaps is the best American comedy in a long while. It also notable for being fourth highest grossing film of the year, an admirable feat considering it's budget and again reaffirming the notion that true quality in cinema will turn profit.
