Starring Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Jeffrey Tambor, Ken Jeong, Justin Bartha, Mike Epps

(7-Very Good Film)

Chracter-driven. Fresh. Inspired.

The Hangover felt like a real original, introducing Bradley Cooper as a star and Galifianakis as a comedic talent. It remains a fast-paced, funny film built around putting three strongly developed characters in a series of bizarre situations. Phil (Cooper), Stu (Helms), and Alan (Galifianakis) are the best friends of Doug Phillips, or in Alan’s case, the soon-to-be brother-in-law, who’s getting married. They go to Vegas for their bachelor party, but things seem to get out of hand, as they wake up the following morning to several surprises, the most important of which being that Doug is missing, and they have no memory of the night. Alan, the oddball, Stu, the overly anxious dentist, and Phil, the always cool leader, are memorable characters, and much fun to watch. Then there’s the host of side characters: Black Doug, Leslie Chow, Mike Tyson (as himself, obviously), Jade, and the police officers. They make The Hangover more than just an interesting premise, and into a modern comedy classic.

-Walter Tyrone Howard-

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