I get this way with movies sometimes. “Fandango” did it to me in college. Most recently, “Old School” made me think they should just stop making films altogether. I am sure others made me feel that way in between, but something new has caught my attention.
“The Hangover.”
You would think that a movie so heavily promoted with so many different versions of the trailer would fail to surprise or entertain you, but this Todd Phillips flick pulls it off with ease. Even clocking in at just over 90 minutes, they pack an awful lot of action and comedy into the film.
The story doesn’t pack that much punch – four very different guys go to Vegas for a bachelor party before one of them gets married and the night goes horribly, horribly wrong. But the note-perfect casting, the inclusion of some key cameos and the refusal to count any topic as forbidden brings this comedy to an epic level.
My friend Dave Lifton said on Twitter yesterday that this movie could easily sweep The Brians next year. “I Love You, Man” has a shot – it is the only grown-up movie I have seen this year – but the cast of “The Hangover” might make it hard for anyone else to get attention.
Zach Galifianakis tends to steal the show as the brother of the bride who is only invited out of a mixed sense of pity and duty by the groom, played by Justin Bartha from the National Treasure movies. Ed Helms and Bradley Cooper do much of the heavy lifting, however, as the groom’s friends who need to deal with problems of their own.
Add in some Vegas magic, Mike Tyson and Heather Graham (plus a splash of Jeffrey Tambor), and you have a movie for the ages. Especially if you stay through the credits. You won’t be disappointed.