Crude BUT clever (The Hangover (DVD))

Member Name: shaneo632

Product:	The Hangover (DVD)
Date:	29/06/09 (14 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Smart, great chemistry

Disadvantages: Too crude for some

Todd Phillips sits aside the Judd Appatow troupe as one of the few purveyors of crude, infantile comedies that are actually imbued with a degree of feral intelligence. Like his previous films Road Trip and Old School, The Hangover takes what could potentially be a very hokey, cliched concept, and injects it with his own sensibilities, making this one absolutely insane, frenzied, hilarious ride, with superb cast chemistry.

The concept is simple - three men wake up the morning after holding an insane party for their buddy that is about to get married. They wake up with a killer hangover, with little to no memory of the night before, as well as a tiger in their bathroom, and a baby in the closet. The film then proceeds like a hard boiled detective thriller, with the men slowly piecing the night together, and also hoping to discover the whereabouts of the best man himself, who is nowhere to be found.

What makes the film a true winner is the synergy of this fabulous cast of three - Bradley Cooper, who previously had a role in the latest season of Nip/Tuck, is the straight man, a teacher bored with life that sees this as something of an adventure, Ed Helms from the American version of The Office is the "whipped" married man that's too shy and retiring to ever kick up a fuss, and the true star of the show - Zach Galifianakis, who is the mentally deficient, truly disturbed, possible sex pest that makes this situation so much more harrowing and difficult than it has to be. These three men blend various types of humour together so well that the mix is a hilarious combination of each. Phillips has a real eye for characters, something that isn't really a requisite in a comedy such as this - just an added bonus.

With a crazed bengal tiger, Mike Tyson singing, missing teeth, strippers, impromptu oral sex, among other things, this is a rousing comedy that's a breath of fresh air in a mostly stagnant genre. Phillips has written another rowdy but smart film that's crude and insightul in equal measure.

Summary: A ferally intelligent "arrested development" comedy