The Hangover

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John D The Hangover (2009), directed by Todd Philips, is an American comedy that perfectly embodies the saying “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.”. This film, the first in the trilogy, became a comedy classic by blending the Hollywood movie style with raunchy yet satirical comedy. Todd Philips has directed similar raunchy comedies, but The Hangover was the highest grossing of his movies made before 2009. Some of his other popular works include Old School (2003), Road Trip (2000), The Joker (2019), The Hangover Part 2 (2011) and The Hangover Part 3 (2013). The film takes place in Las Vegas, where three friends wake up after a night out for their friend’s bachelor party. With no memory of the night before, the three friends stumble through all kinds of wild and strange misadventures to find their missing groom before his wedding. The acting in the film is exceptional. Bradley Cooper delivers a smooth and charismatic performance as Phil, the leader of the group. Ed Helms performed exceptionally well in the role of Stu, a bad-tempered “goody-two shoes” dentist with severe confidence issues. Zach Galifianakis plays Alan, an extremely odd and quirky brother in-law of the groom. These actors, along with the extras Mr. Chow (Ken Jeong) and the groom Doug (Justin Bartha), made you want to keep your eyes glued to the screen. Between the script itself and the wild antics of the characters, it delivers a raunchy and hilarious combination. The ambient sounds in the movie bring a more realistic experience to the movie watchers. One of my personal favorite aspects of the film is in the cinematography. The film uses multiple instances of montages with music where they brilliantly use soundtracks to keep you engaged. They use the montages well, just like Battleship Potempkin (1925). There are multiple time lapses and scenes out of order with the timeline, but they create a sense of mystery and suspense without becoming unfollowable. The editing seamlessly connects the pictures together. They mostly use long to medium view shots and use the depth of focus in a comedic fashion (characters being funny in the blurry background). However, they do an amazing job of setting the scenes with extra long view shots of the city. The film is not purely a raunchy comedy. Through the misadventures of the characters, you see real development. The group members aren’t all happy initially, each having their own issues. At the end of the movie, all the characters show real growth and resolve their problems. This creates a new level of depth to the characters and the film itself. There is a comedic antithesis that presents itself in the characters. As the story progresses, each character shows their growth to be opposite of their original nature. This film is one of Todd Philips’s biggest successes, becoming a comedic cult classic. The mix of raunchy comedy, unique characters and amazing cinematography will have you excited for more. The film is unique among other 2000’s vulgar comedies because the oddity of the characters balances out the vulgarness of the lines. I would highly recommend watching this film, as it will have you laughing and wanting to watch the sequel. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/20/25 Full Review Jen W So fun with lots of laughs and great additional material by Galifiniakis Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/18/25 Full Review Jimmy M If you love really random funny things that dont take itself too seriously this movies for you Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/14/25 Full Review Alyssa K Classic comedy of the 2000s-2010s, delivers everything it aims to, the end credits were amazing. Bradley Cooper was so sexy and had such luxurious hair. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/12/25 Full Review TripleStryke B Fire, funny, unpredictable, and plenty of hot characters. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/12/25 Full Review Upendra singh t That's classic, Sometimes movies are just for fun. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/25/25 Full Review Read all reviews

The Hangover

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