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*** Official THE HANGOVER Review Thread

post #1 of 13
6/4/09 at 2:45am
Thread Starter 
Just got back from the screening. It's pretty good. I didn't like it as much as Old School, but it is worth checking out.
Zack is definitely the funniest actor in the movie. He just plays an unstable goofball trying to fit in to perfection.
There were some not so funny scenes and some scenes that went a little wacky that just didn't work, like the Chinese mobsters and the whole "I am Doug" (you'll know what I'm talking about before it happens, which is never a good thing). There are a few really great laugh out loud moments though. The Mike Tyson cameo is played slightly out of context in the trailer, and I promise you it's WAY funnier in the movie, and Heather Graham was a highlight.
The explanation for how the tiger got into the bathroom and the whole wedding ring fiasco are the funniest bits.
I give it a solid B.
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post #2 of 13
6/5/09 at 8:49pm

re: *** Official THE HANGOVER Review Thread

This is a comedy without a lot of laughs, until the very end. And that's not a bad thing. The film sets up far more as a mystery movie. It reminded me a lot of "Murder By Death".

The characters wake up in their trashed hotel room missing a friend, and they can't remember anything that happened the night before. How did they get a cop car? A tiger? Why is the hotel trashed?

The mystery element is actually told pretty inventive; almost a homage to Bourne Identity type storytelling. As the characters try to figure out what happened, they run into people who want them dead, a marriage they don't remember and a heavy weight boxer (name not disclosed).

All of this sets up with some funny gags, but there is real tension built here as to "what did we get ourselves into". The end wraps up nicely with a relationship scene that EVERYONE had to see coming, but was still damn rewarding.

However, the film pays off as a comedy in the last 2 minutes; in those two minutes, everything is revealed as to WHAT really happened the night before, and those moments made me laugh harder then anything else in the film, because it made so much of the rest of the film make sense.. I kept wondering at the end "why would xyz character do this?" and then at the very end.. answers.

It's not the greatest film I've seen, but a few good moments, and Zack is classic.

.5 /
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post #3 of 13
6/5/09 at 9:03pm

re: *** Official THE HANGOVER Review Thread

Wow...I thought it was DANG hilarious. Zach is funny throughout. The Chinese storyline is outrageous and lol funny. Lots of silly bits throughout. And, a surprising amount of good character moments.

The end payoff in the form of X-rated photos during the credits is priceless.
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post #4 of 13
6/6/09 at 11:20am

re: *** Official THE HANGOVER Review Thread

I think MattCR's review is pretty accurate. While I might not have been rolling in the aisles, it's solidly funny and entertaining all the way through and the photos at the end are very funny and bring the movie together.

If you've seen the trailer or commercials and think that you'll enjoy this, you probably will have a good time. If you've seen the trailer or commercials and think it's not your thing, you probably should steer clear.
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post #5 of 13
6/6/09 at 1:36pm

re: *** Official THE HANGOVER Review Thread

Watched it with a packed crowd late last night and had a blast. Audience was really into it. LOL moments from start to finish, especially finish. I thought it was one of the funniest comedies I've seen in a long time.
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post #6 of 13
6/6/09 at 2:22pm

Re: *** Official THE HANGOVER Review Thread

This thread is now the Official Review Thread for "The Hangover". Please post all HTF member reviews in this thread.

Any other comments, links to other reviews, or discussion items will be deleted from this thread without warning!

If you need to discuss those type of issues then I have designated an Official Discussion Thread.



Crawdaddy
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post #7 of 13
6/6/09 at 6:55pm

Re: *** Official THE HANGOVER Review Thread

So a groom and 3 friends go to Vegas for a bachelor party night 2 days before the wedding, and when they wake up, the groom is missing, and no one remembers anything from the night before, and all hell has broke loose in their villa suite at Caesar's. That's the setup.

Enjoyed the slow build to finding out what happened the night before, and director Todd Philips almost always pulls back when the movie could have gone careening out of control, allowing for smaller laughs in service of peeling back the clues that leads the 3 best friends to uncovering the truth of it all. And by the time the final act concludes, the humor just builds and builds and ends on a high note (stay for the credits).

The cast is overall solid, with Zach Galifianakis stealing most of his scenes as the socially awkward brother of the bride. Ed Helms and Bradley Cooper are also good as the groom's friends, and Justin Bartha is the groom.

I give it 3 stars, or a grade of B.
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post #8 of 13
6/7/09 at 5:29pm

Re: *** Official THE HANGOVER Review Thread

Hilarious! Everybody on the crowd had a blast. Three and a half stars out of four.
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post #9 of 13
6/9/09 at 10:37am

Re: *** Official THE HANGOVER Review Thread

Wife and I saw it last night. Loved it! Make sure you stay for the photo show at the end ... some of those pictures are REALLY DISTURBING!
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post #10 of 13
6/20/09 at 3:24pm

Re: *** Official THE HANGOVER Review Thread

I thought this was a freakin' riot!

I will never get the image of a naked chinese man suddenly springing from the trunk and onto Cooper's back out of my head.

Heather Graham, an unquestionable hall of fame hottie, never fails to rev my engine and this is no exception.
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post #11 of 13
6/23/09 at 12:00pm

Re: *** Official THE HANGOVER Review Thread

Very funny flick with tons of quotes that will be repeated for a long time.

We are a pack of wolves, wandering the desert, searching for strippers and cocaine.

It's not a purse it's a satchel!

Rainman did it, and he was a ra-tard!

Counting cards isn't illegal, it's frowned upon, kind like masturbating on an airplane.
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post #12 of 13
6/27/09 at 7:26pm

Re: *** Official THE HANGOVER Review Thread

My wife, 16 yr old son, & I need to kill some time yesterday and this movie happened to fit the time we need to kill. Definitely a funny movie. My wife said that she hasn't laughed that hard in a while. It is full of non-stop unexpectedly funny random events. Well almost non stop. I thought it ran out of laughs as it wrapped up at the end.

Quote:
I will never get the image of a naked Chinese man suddenly springing from the trunk and onto Cooper's back out of my head.
Definitely funny and unexpected.

Quote:
some of those pictures are REALLY DISTURBING!
I thought they went over the rules of an "R" rating with a few of those.
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post #13 of 13
7/1/09 at 4:01pm
I finally saw the movie because I'd heard tons of great word-of-mouth about it and was not disappointed!!! Totally hilarious, Zach Galafianakis  was awesome ( think of myself as a one-man wolf pack) as was the rest of the cast. It had a ton of good moments throughout, but the end credits was definitely the pay-off! 

...and now i want to go back to Vegas! 
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