The Hangover

Boys will be boys. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. These are two of the themes running through The Hangover – an absolute joy of a movie that I just returned from seeing. Oh My God! I never laughed out loud so much in my life in a theater! By the time this flick was over we (the audience) were like a family. The Hangover is a buddy adventure film filled with goofs, slapstick while at the same time proves to be is a very smart funny film. Man, are we glad to be in on the fun!

The story begins innocently enough. Doug is getting married. He and two of his close buddies (a teacher and a dentist) decide to drive to Vegas (in Doug’s future father -in – law’s prized vintage Mercedes convertible) for one night to get crazy before the wedding. Oh! I almost forgot to add the Bride’s brother Alan. Al is a misfit, an oddball, overweight and surprisingly endearing. The boys decide (on the spur of the moment) to upgrade to a super-sized ultra plush “villa” suite. They go to the roof of their hotel and do shots of Jagermeister and no one remembers what happens next. They wake up. The suite is trashed. There is livestock running around, a tiger in the bathroom, one of our boys has lost a tooth and the groom to be (Doug) is missing!!!

The rest of the film follows the boys as they try to reconstruct the night. Why is there a tiger in the bathroom? Why is the piano bench in a sling extended from the ceiling? Where did that baby come from? Where did the Elvis impersonator suit come from? Why does the valet drive up a police squad car when they hand him their valet ticket? What about the chicken? Where is Doug? Why can’t they remember? The story unfolds and gets crazier and crazier, and still no Doug and the clock is ticking.

The jokes are hilarious. The characters are real (though we do get a bit of eye candy, I was drooling over a shirtless Bradley Cooper – thankfully, after so many hairy fat buttcracks) and likable and really funny. I want to go to Vegas! You need to see this film!! It’s a great guy’s flick, couple’s flick, young and old. I loved it!! And the ending is such a wonderful pay-off for us all!!

Partake!