The Phoenix Network:
 
 
About  |  Advertise
 
Features  |  Reviews
F98909297

Review: The Hangover

Almost all the elements are familiar.
By PETER KEOUGH  |  June 2, 2009
2.0 2.0 Stars


VIDEO: The trailer for The Hangover

VIDEO: Peter Keough interviews Ed Helms.
The increasingly tiresome trend of raunchy comedies about bad male behavior finds nothing new to laugh about in Todd Phillips's retread of Old School (2003).

Almost all the elements are familiar. We have four stereotypical friends who drive to Vegas for a bachelor party: the regular-guy groom, Doug (Justin Bartha); the would-be hipster, Phil (Bradley Cooper); the nerdy worry wart, Stu (Ed Helms); and the freaky loser and brother-in-law-to-be, Alan (Zach Galifianakis).

In Vegas, they encounter the usual gags involving vomit, a naked man, a mystery baby, a trashed hotel room, a tiger, a guy Tasered in the nuts by a schoolgirl, and Mike Tyson. The gimmick: the next day the groom is gone, nobody can remember what happened, and they have to reconstruct everything.

It's Dude, Where's the Groom? Oh, and don't forget that comic stand-by: the suffocating women back home who are the reason for the trip in the first place.
Related: Review: The Hangover Part II, Review: Due Date, Interview: Zach Galifianakis, More more >
  Topics: Reviews , Mike Tyson, Zach Galifianakis, Zach Galifianakis,  More more >
| More

 Friends' Activity   Popular   Most Viewed 
[ 10/22 ]   Black Francis [Pixies] + Mark Thompson  @ Brighton Music Hall
[ 10/22 ]   Boston Baroque conducted by Martin Pearlman  @ Jordan Hall
[ 10/22 ]   Gallim Dance  @ Institute of Contemporary Art
ARTICLES BY PETER KEOUGH
Share this entry with Delicious
  •   REVIEW: THE MIGHTY MACS  |  October 18, 2011
    Based on a true story, but drawing on every underdog sports movie ever made, Tim Chambers's tale of Immaculata College's 1971 championship women's basketball team had me going — up to the regional semi-finals.
  •   REVIEW: PUNCTURE  |  October 18, 2011
    Though drawn from a true story, Adam and Mark Kassen's drama falls into the pattern of films like The Verdict in which a crapulous barrister gets a second chance by taking on a case of David-versus-Goliath injustice.
  •   REVIEW: TAKE SHELTER  |  October 18, 2011
    Shannon's got the crazy bit down pat, and director Jeff Nichols has an eye for turning everyday items — a pile of trash, a clear sky, a barking dog — into signs of immanent doom.
  •   RUSSELL BANKS BARES THE SOUL OF A SEX OFFENDER IN SKIN  |  October 12, 2011
    When it comes to reprobate or ostracized characters, Russell Banks has no fear.
  •   REVIEW: THE CLOCK  |  October 12, 2011
    "In Switzerland they had brotherly love," he says. "They had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."

 See all articles by: PETER KEOUGH

MOST POPULAR
RSS Feed of for the most popular articles
 Most Viewed   Most Emailed