Where the hell is my Tiger? (The Hangover (DVD))

Member Name: DixieChick101

Product:	The Hangover (DVD)
Date:	27/08/09 (40 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great Cast, a great comedy

Disadvantages: Overacting, Annoying Chinease Man.

I fell in love with Bradley Cooper back in 2003 when he played the lead's best friend in the show Alias. He was gorgeous, and I was amazed that this was his only really well known role at the time. Fast forward to about 2006 and he slowly begins to do well known films, however in the past year or so, he has finally done films which show off his talents fantastically well, and films that have made him one of the hottest male actors in Hollywood at the moment.

With this film, the main reason I watched it was because of Bradley Cooper, that's why I gave you the little summary above. It is basically filled with unknowns, other than Mr Cooper, who pretty much carries the film on his shoulders. Gone is the 'best friend status' that he had in Alias, and now he finally commands the stage in a very hilarious film.

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The Plot
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This is probably one of the most easiest plots to write about in the world. I am amazed if anyone else writes more than this as it's not nessesary.

Doug is about to get married, and as is custom, his friends decide to throw him a stag night, however, it's in Las Vegas. Doug and his three friends, Phil, Alan and Stu get to Las Vegas and find themselves having the world of fun. They wake up in the morning however, with no memory of the night before, and without Doug. The rest of the film is them trying to remember what happened the night before and eventually finding their friend Doug to get him home in time for his wedding.

Simples really.

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The Cast
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Phil- Bradley Cooper
Stu- Ed Helms
Alan- Zach Galifanakis
Doug- Justin Bartha
Jade- Heather Graham
Tracy- Sasha Barrese
Mike Tyson

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My Opinion
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I watched this film about a month or so ago, and couldn't be more pleased I didn't write a review until now. I was a little bit sceptical with watching this film, as films like this, there will always bit a 50% chance that it will turn out to be terrible. I did go in the end because of a friend who wanted to see it, and I thought, watching Bradley Cooper for 90 minutes couldn't have been that much of a hardship.

I sat down and was pleasantly surprised, the film was so funny, of course there were really stupid bits within the film and it was predictable but I really was laughing throughout the whole film. I think the reason why a lot of us find this film funny, is we've all, well most of us have had those nights, where we wake up with no memory of the night before, yes I've only been legal for just over a month now, and I've had quite a few of those nights and mornings.

I think the reason you find the film funny, is because the actors, even though most of them are brilliant actors, you really do like all of the cast. Even though they are rude and disgusting at times, you really do laugh at their antics and at the end of it, actually feel for the characters and what they've gone through. The four main guys are very extreme, but they're likeable, down to earth and you really believed that these guys would do anything for each other.

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The Actors
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Bradley Cooper is just fantastic in this movie. He really does have something about him and I really did enjoy watching him for 90 minutes when I watched the film.

Cooper is your typical handsome man in the comedy films. He uses his good looks and his 'jock' status and makes himself funny by using these things. I think Cooper is the star within this film, he is the only one that is really known within the film, other than Heather Graham and Mike Tyson. He delivers a brilliant performance, I really can't wait for the rest of the films he's got coming out in 2009 and 2010, he might just become one of the best comedians in Hollywood.

Galifianakis is the sort of actor, who ALWAYS plays the geeky guy, he never gets the girl in the films and always plays the annoying film. Other than Cooper though, he is the only one I know. He's stared in some great films, one that comes to mind is 'What Happens In Vegas', where he stared as the annoying little friend. He seems to be a fantastic actor, but other than his small role in Tru Calling, he's not really had the chance to shine. He really seems to be just a child with a beard.

Ed Helms was great, mainly because he walked around half of the film without one of his teeth. This made me laugh and he did a brilliant job of the more straight laced friend controlled completely by his girlfriend. He did a brilliant job for what was written for him, but was overshone by Galifianakis and Cooper.

Justin Bartha plays Doug, you don't really get to see much from him as the film is about the other three boys finding him but he seems like a good actor as well, Heather Graham makes an appearance as a stripper and so does Mike Tyson plays himself. He is brilliant in the film, him and his tiger.

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The Writers
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Like usual, I look up a bit about the writers and the directors before watching a film, sounds a bit nerdy, and in this case it did make me a little bit scared due to the fact that Jon Lucas and Scott Moore who wrote this film, also wrote Ghost of a Girlfriends Past and Four Christmases. If any of you have seen either of them, you'll know why I was a little bit worried. Both were very poor films, attempted to get laughs, but really just hit below the belt way too many times, which made it uncomfortable to watch and ruined the film.

This film was different however, very easy to watch and I was laughing quite a few times, even though most of the jokes were just plain old stupid, but they were funny.

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The Director
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I have a feeling the reason why this film didn't end up like the writers previous two films did was because of the director Todd Phillips. I haven't seen any of the films he's previously directed so I can't really compare but, he did a brilliant job here. He made sure the film was funny, but not too slapstick, I'm sure some people will disagree with me here, but compared to Four Christmases this is not slapstick. It was predictable sure, but it all fell together and I was in stitches throughout the whole movie.

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Soundtrack
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The soundtrack within the movie was just fantastic, throughout it kept the movie upbeat and the person who chose the music did a brilliant job of choosing music which corresponded to what was going on, on screen. You even get Mike Tyson and the three main boys singing In the Air Tonight, even with the addition of him miming the drum scene. Stu's song was fantastic as well, I was really impressed at how well that Ed Helms sings, I was expecting the song to be a real song until I listened to the lyrics, then it made me laugh.

With songs like Right Round by Flo Rida and Candy Shop, the film is filled with some amazing songs.

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Cinematography
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In a film like this, the cinematography is not that important, however I did think the camera work was just fantastic, they chose some brilliant angles, none really made what was happening on screen scary or shocking, as it was quite predictable. The lighting was fantastic, and did wonders for the gorgeous Cooper. Used Any of the camera angles and scenes of the Las Vegas Strip could have been taken from the billions of films and TV shows that have been shot there, it's nothing new at all, and that is the only weakness on the cinematography.

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Trivia
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If you play close attention, you will notice that most of the numbers within the film add up to 13, the room number, if you add all the numbers up, they become 13 and songs throughout are called Thirteen. This adds to the plot of the movie because it's supposed to be Unlucky in Vegas.

The tooth scene is actually real, don't worry they didn't pull out Ed Helms' tooth, but he never actually had one there to begin with. It was a fake one already.

There is already a sequel planned and I believe it's being released in 2010, I will be watching this, as I really enjoyed this movie.

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Final Opinion
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The film flowed brilliantly, there was never a moment in the film where I struggled to understand what was going on, it all made sense and because it is such a simple film. I haven't seen such a funny film like this, since Pineapple Express which followed the same sort of storyline, it involved drugs and the result of drugs and both were just fantastic.

I don't think I'll be buying the DVD for Christmas, which is when it comes out on DVD, but I will down the line probably buy it off EBay pretty cheap. It wasn't perfect and it wasn't the best film I've ever seen, but it was enjoyable and it was worth the price of the cinema ticket. There were some distracting and annoying characters like the Mr Chow character who was just overally played and it became way too annoying after a while, it didn't even become funny after about a minute.

The rest of the cast was fantastic, I really liked the fact that other than Cooper, that they used basic unknowns, which meant that you were really believed what was happening in the film and the chemistry between the boys felt a lot more believable.

It's one of those comedies that is nothing really special, it's not got the best plot in the world, it's not going to win any Oscars, but it's funny, delightful to watch and acted brilliantly by the cast within the film. I really loved the way they put the film together, from the start to the end, fantastic and so much fun to watch. Well worth the money I paid for the cinema ticket, just a delight to watch.

If you didn't enjoy the likes of Pineapple Express, Knocked Up, and any other Apatow comedies then you will probably not like this movie (40 Year Old Virgin doesn't count here, because I hated that but loved this). If you go into watching this film expecting too much then you will be disappointed, you won't need too many brain cells, you'll just need to sit down, and let yourself laugh.

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Details
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Rating: 15
Director: Todd Phillips
Writer: Jon Lucas & Scott Moore

Well worth watching. Thank you for reading.

(C) Kirsty 2009

Summary: A brilliant film, well worth the price of the cinema ticket