How to beat a ‘Hangover’

If back in May someone told you that a comedy starring Andy from The Office, the jerk from Wedding Crashers and a stand-up comedian that looks like a wrongfully-tenured English professor and constantly berates his audience would become the third highest grossing R-rated movie of all time, you would have been justified in calling them crazy. But that’s just what happened to Todd Phillips’ The Hangover and its stars Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, and Zach Galifianakis, and the surprise smash movie is in stores this week. The plot is simple: Four buds hit up Las Vegas for a bachelor party that goes horribly wrong when they wake up the next morning to find the groom missing, a baby in the closet and a tiger in the bathroom. The next day is spent putting the pieces together, evading police, a local Asian mafia boss, angry girlfriends and Mike Tyson, all while trying to get find the groom and get him to his wedding on time. The explicit humor is right out of the Old School and Wedding Crashers playbook, but the chemistry these three unlikely leads cook up is what makes The Hangover stand out. Rated R. Justin Bartha, Heather Graham, Rachael Harris, Jeffrey Tambor and Mike Tyson co-star. Rated R.