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The Hangover(2009)

My Cinematic Review
No matter how funny a comedy is, it rarely makes a good cinema rating



For a Comedy
This movie is hilarious



Short
This movie is pretty hilarious. Keep in mind that all sense of humor is relative. So what I think is funny may actually be offenseive to someone else. With that said, this movie can be on the crude side at times. It is not as crude as films like "40 year old virgin" or "Superbad", but the humor isn’t any more sophisticated. So don’t go in expecting "Wedding Crashers" (a funny movie on a different level of humor). If you like the general trend of recent comedies and can bear some nudity, I recommend this movie.




Full

Writers Jon Lucas and Scott Moore have previously done nothing important to me ("Four Christmases" and "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past"), but here they strike gold.
Man, what aren’t they allowed to show in movies these days? I often find myself confused as to whether comedies these days rely on actual jokes being made, or just putting something shocking on screen. Though the internal debate continues, I am amused regardless. This movie is an example of a well crafted situation that allows for maximum hilarity. The only period of the movie in which I wasn’t laughing was during the opening credits, in which there are names flashing on the screen over a Las Vegas background. From the first sentence spoken to even 2 minutes into the closing credits my smile did not leave my face.

The plot
A man is ending his bachelor career by marrying his gorgeous fiancĂ©, Tracy (Sasha Barrese). As is customary, his two good friends Phil and Stu (Cooper and Price) and his brother-in-law Alan (Galifianakis…the only place I recognize him from is “What happens in Vegas”) treat him to a bachelor party in Vegas. After drinking heavily and being drugged, the group of guys awake in their Vegas Villa missing the groom. They literally have no clue where he is. They then go on a series of great adventures to find him, each one ridiculous and hilarious. But don’t worry, in the style of Shakespere, all comedies have a happy ending.

Reasons to see it
The comedy. There are so many levels of humor in this movie, and they all work so well together. Obviously it is the slap stick humor that is the weak point of any comedy including this one, but due to the movie ripping down your 'serious walls' early on, you will find yourself laughing even at poop jokes.

The movie does a really great job of developing the characters. It only takes 2 minutes of on screen time for the movie to tell you enough about each character that the script can make an inside joke, and you’ll get it. Aside from the character introduction, I think the choice of characters (not to be confused with actors) were great. There is the wife-whipped nerd, the cool player, and the completely questionable crazy friend. Though the groom has a chraceter as well, from the plot line I’m sure you can tell it doesn’t matter that much, as he isn’t in most of the movie.

The Negatives
The movie is a comedy. Not that all comedies are bad, but being a comedy--especially this new generation of comedy--the jokes are often ridiculous and over the top. Don’t get me wrong, I think this stuff is hilarious, but if you step back and think about it, a lot of this stuff is pretty stupid.

By the end of the movie the audience is convinced that the actor choices were perfect, due to everything they had done together. In all honesty, I don’t think they were that well chosen out. You can occasionally realize the lack of chemistry between some of the characters in certain situations. This never detrimentally subtracts from the humor, but it can be noticeable enough and probably makes some of the jokes less funny than they could have been.

In summary…
Hilarious (I've used this word several times now). See it if you like slightly crude, 'dumb' comedies.

3 comments:

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  2. J.A.D.

    WOW! First off, what’s a "sophisticated comedy" (I don’t think “sophisticated” when I see weeding crashers) and why do you point it out like it matters (i.e. does this subtract from the hilariousness of the movie, which you point out several times, NO). And if you think this type of comedy is hilarious, then why would you step back and think it’s stupid, it’s not stupid, it’s just funny. It purposes is to make you laugh, not ponder questions on life, so there is no need to step back. And I never once realized any problems with chemistry, except for ones that seem to have been made deliberate, in order to make for some awkward/funny moments. Everyone of legal age should see this movie unless you are lame, and have never been intoxicated, and even then I’m sure it would still be funny. This movie deserves more stars from just a dude

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  3. Thank you for your comments. In response: I suppose by the word 'sophisticated', I was trying to imply that the comedy didn't rely on slapstick humor for laughs. Not that slapstick humor is necessarily 'stupid', but it doesn't appeal to all audiences. (Just giving a comprehensive review for all who might read it.) As for my criticism on actor chemistry, just re-watch the scene when the naked asian jumps out of the trunk. The convo between Alan and Stu is off. This is also noticable at the breakfast table when the gorup is attempting to plan their day. Again, it's not glaring, but the 'baby masterbating' joke might have been funnier. Other than that, the maximum rating for my system is 5 stars. Please forgive me if even a dude has reservations about giving "the hangover" a perfect score.

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