The Hangover

The Hangover is one of those movies that's popping up more often these days: the well-done comedy. Gone are the cheesy and lighthearted comedies of years past. Instead, the replacements tend to add a dash of drama into the works, overdo the sexual and racial jokes, and give new meaning to bromances (Is bromance in the Merriam-Webster dictionary yet? It should be). I watched this flick on Wednesday afternoon, which is the absolutely best time for watching mindless entertainment.

Doug, a straight shooter and good guy all around, invites his two best buddies, Phil and Stu, to Vegas for the best bachelor's party ever. Of course, things never go according to plan, especially when Doug's utterly wacko brother-in-law-to-be Alan tags along. The day before the wedding, they wake from a hog-wild party in a trashed hotel room minus their memory and...uh oh...minus Doug. Plus a baby and some other animals.

Phil (a smarmy Bradley Cooper) takes charge and tries to recreate last night CSI style while Stu (Ed Helms) the pansy works himself up to a mental breakdown. And I cannot even begin to describe all of the shades of insanity that is Alan (Zach Galifianakis). Bradley Cooper is just amazing as the uber-pessimistic and generally douchy schoolteacher Phil who nonetheless does his best to find Doug, calm Stu, and deal with Alan all at once. Helms and Galifianakis also pull off worthy performances, especially the latter, who is light years weirder than E.T.

Overall, I really liked the look and pace of The Hangover, which resolves itself evenly without dragging. Although the movie didn't give me a rush of satisfaction at the end (I only get my thrills from dark and angsty dramas), it was still a fun experience.