Hangover (2009)

Hollywood Reporter
"[A] piercingly funny, twisted 'whatever-happens-in-Vegas' caper....It's the deadpan comic timing of director Phillips and his terrific cast that's ultimately responsible for THE HANGOVER's lasting effect." 05/24/2009

Box Office
4 stars out of 5 -- "Todd Phillips has directed a nasty, brutish and brilliant comedy for louts..." 05/29/2009

Entertainment Weekly
"Zach Galifianakis makes blinkered idiocy a cartoon rush..." -- Grade: B 06/12/2009

Chicago Sun-Times
3.5 stars out of 4 -- "THE HANGOVER is a funny movie, flat out, all the way through....Here is a movie that deserves every letter of its R rating." 06/03/2009

Washington Post
"What makes HANGOVER so funny is watching these hapless fools trying to piece together a lost night, forensic clue by forensic clue 06/05/2009

USA Today
3 stars out of 4 -- "THE HANGOVER proves that high concept, done right, can work deliriously well. Its simple premise, executed via an off-kilter narrative structure, is made even more absurdly funny by an offbeat cast." 06/05/2009

Los Angeles Times
"[T]here is a sort of perverse brilliance or brilliant perverseness to be found in this story of a bachelor party gone terribly wrong." 06/05/2009

New York Times
"[O]ften very funny. This is partly thanks to the three principal actors, Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis, who incarnate familiar masculine stereotypes in ways that manage to be moderately fresh as well as soothingly familiar." 06/05/2009

Movieline
"There's definite chemistry there between Ed Helms, Bradley Cooper and Zach Galifianakis. The script is a dream for a comedic actor, filled with opportunities for all three leads to shine, and all three do." 06/03/2009

Premiere
4 stars out of 4 -- "[A] very funny and fast-paced detective story." 06/04/2009

Total Film
4 stars out of 5 -- "[T]here's oodles of verbal humour...Jon Lucas and Scott Moore's inventively profane script missing few opportunities to tickle the funny bone as it charts the deranged aftermath of the ultimate Sin City stag night. 06/09/2009

ReelViews 8 of 10
The Hangover begins and ends conventionally but, in between, it's not afraid to go off the rails. Unlike most so-called "comedies," this one can claim the virtue of being reasonably funny. It never tries too hard, the actors have a good sense of comedic timing, and none of the jokes are drawn out for too long. And, although The Hangover doesn't have the heart of, say, Knocked Up, it displays an affection for its characters that most comedies don't. I wouldn't go so far as to claim the men and women populating the production are three-dimensional but they escape the low orbit of simple caricature. There's a little more going on here than vulgar humor and that makes The Hangover worth the price of admission...The lead actors play familiar types. Bradley Cooper, probably the most recognizable name in the cast (not counting Tyson) is the leader of the pack, although he avoids the "asshole" vibe that many such characters give off in other, similar films, thus making Phil more appealing than one might expect from such a slick individual. Stu is a nerd out of his depth who's tethered by a cellphone to his controlling girlfriend back home. Ed Helms plays him like a refugee from a Judd Apatow film. Finally, there's overweight and socially awkward Alan, whose personality Zach Galifianakis milks for humor without voiding the character of all vestiges of humanity. Alan is weird in ways that are sometimes uncomfortable, and that's where about 50% of the movie's comedy originates...The Hangover is unapologetically R-rated, although it's not as shocking as other recent raunchy comedies that have pushed the envelope. The majority of the nudity is provided by guys because, as is generally acknowledged, the naked male form is funnier than the naked female form. There are drinking and drugs, profanity, and bodily fluids, but nothing we haven't been exposed to before. The purpose of The Hangover isn't to boldly go where no comedy has gone before (although there is a subtle but unmistakable nod to Star Trek in the line "I'm a doctor, not a tour guide"), but simply to make audiences laugh. With so many comedies becoming increasingly less funny as a result of the rise of lazy, uninspired writing, that's a worthy goal. For a viewer in the mood for something rude, crude, and lewd, it would be difficult to find a more satisfying food. - James Berardinelli
 
Chicago Sun-Times 9 of 10
Now this is what I'm talkin' about. The Hangover is a funny movie, flat out, all the way through. Its setup is funny. Every situation is funny. Most of the dialogue is funny almost line by line. At some point we actually find ourselves caring a little about what happened to the missing bridegroom -- and the fact that we almost care is funny, too...The movie opens with bad news for a bride on her wedding day. Her fiance's best buddy is standing in the Mojave Desert with a bloody lip and three other guys, none of whom is her fiance. They've lost him. He advises her there's no way the wedding is taking place...We flash back two days to their road trip to Vegas for a bachelor party. Doug, her future husband (Justin Bartha), will be joined by his two friends, the schoolteacher Phil (Bradley Cooper) and the dentist Stu (Ed Helms). Joining them will be her brother Alan (Zach Galifianakis), an overweight slob with a Haystacks Calhoun beard and an injunction against coming within 200 feet of a school building...Phillips has them encountering a mixed bag of weird characters, which is standard, but the characters aren't. Mr. Chow (Ken Jeong), the vertically challenged naked man they find locked in the trunk of the police car, is strong, skilled in martial arts and really mean about Alan's obesity. He finds almost anything a fat man does to be hilarious. When he finds his clothes and his henchmen, he is not to be trifled with. Jade (Heather Graham), a stripper, is forthright: "Well, actually, I'm an escort, but stripping is a good way to meet clients." She isn't the good-hearted cliche, but more of a sincere young woman who would like to meet the right guy...The search for Doug has the friends piecing together clues from the ER doctor, Mike Tyson's security tapes and a mattress that is impaled on the uplifted arm of one of the Caesars Palace statues. The plot hurtles through them...If the movie ends somewhat conventionally, well, it almost has to; narrative housecleaning requires it. It begins conventionally, too, with uplifting music and a typeface for the titles that may remind you of "My Best Friend's Wedding." But it is not to be. Here is a movie that deserves every letter of its R rating. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, especially after you throw up. - Roger Ebert