The Hangover is not all forgettable

In theaters Friday: The Proposal, Whatever Works, Year One

New on DVD/Blu-ray: Friday the 13th, Madea Goes to Jail

One can imagine Vince Vaughn as The Hangover’s slick-tongued ladies man instead of his Wedding Crasher’s co-star Bradly Cooper, and similarly, a bearded Will Ferrell as the requisite outcast, oddball goober instead of stand-up Zach Galifianakis. But this is 2009, not 2004, and Old School director Todd Phillips has his first bona fide hit in years with a cast whose most recognizable face is probably Ed Helms, a funny guy that’s typically stuck playing second bill to Steve Carell on The Office.

There’s not a whole lot to say about The Hangover. It is a raunchy guy’s movie about four guys who flee their ordinary lives to be guys for one last weekend before the most sensible among them, Doug, gets hitched. It’s also a bachelor weekend gone horribly wrong when the groomsmen wake up from a night of partying with no memory of what happened and no idea where to find Doug. The next hour is a comedy or errors as the dysfunctional trio romps through Vegas attempting to piece together what happened and figure out what happened to their friend. I’m not going to call any part of this film genius, but what makes it interesting is that the leads are just as confused as the audience is when, say, a tiger appears in the bathroom or the hotel valet brings the guys a stolen cop car instead of the wheels they road in on. Because this is Vegas, and because Cooper, Helms and Galifianakis obviously overindulged in several substances the night before, it’s a film, not unlike 24, where anything can happen and be believable. And that makes for fertile comedic ground.

The Hangover isn’t without problems. Heather Graham is either underused or pointless altogether. I can’t decide which, and that may say more about Graham than the role she was given. Someone like Kristin Wiig or Sarah Silverman would have fared much better as Helms’ accidental, quickie bride. But Cooper, Helms and Galifianakis show real chemistry together, which coupled with a big box office will surely guarantee a sequel. Galifianakis just may be the new Jack Black, shining in a truly bizarre performance that’s notable as much for its lack of foul language — surprising given both The Hangover script and the comedian’s stage persona — as his odd meter and non sequitur-laced looser vibe. Cooper comes into his own here, as a toned-down Vaughn who comes off as smooth and sage when Vaughn would play the same role abrasively larger than life. Helms does his familiar shtick as a cuckolded dweeb too passive to dump his controlling girlfriend. But his short-leashed relationship pays off big at the end in one of the most hilarious kiss off scenes I’ve ever seen, a sequence that’s on par with the earlier taser scene, another clip about revenge that I don’t want to spoil by over explaining it.

Fans of Wedding Crashers and anything Will Ferrell has ever done will eat this film up like the all-you-can-eat buffet at the Bellagio. Though it could have been better with a high-priced cameo or two, it was fun while it lasted.