The Hangover (2009)

Directed by: Todd Phillips
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms

I saw The Hangover based on the suprising array of good reviews rather than trusting my instinct that screamed that this would be a terrible movie. My instinct, however, was based on what I could see in the trailer... these reviews were based on what people had seen the film so I went into it cautiously but perhaps optimistic.

How dare I ignore my instinct. Todd Phillips has made me laugh before both in Road Trip and more recently in Old School. Clearly, Phillips is aware of the fact the he has made people laugh with Old School as he essentially did his best to subtley recreate the experience to the point where not only are there appearences from successful characters showing up in The Hangover, but they pretty much have the same lines of dialogue in order to talk their friend out of getting married.

Reusing jokes isn't the biggest crime this film commits. After all, Apatow joints essentially use the same funny people doing pretty much the same funny things all the time. No, the biggest crime this film commits is the nature of its jokes. Its not that they are too crude, and its not that they aren't funny, in fact, often times they are both crude and funny, that's okay. They are just too far over the top, all the time, for the the whole movie, the whole excrutiatingly long running over the top joke. Notice my exaggeration got somewhat obnoixious there. Well, the over the top, exaggerated jokes got obnoxious really early on in this film to the point where I'd lost so much interest in the jokes themselves I think my mind started treating the film like a drama.

Once I start watching a comedy like a drama all I recognize is the poor acting, the lack of abilities to deliver lines, whether they are jokes or not. Bradley Cooper has for the third time strengthened my argument that he is a terrible actor and an even worse comedic actor. Ed Helms is funny enough but the disaster that is the film surrounding him only makes me long for The Office so I can see him being funny in something good. And Zach Galifianakis, well Galifianakis is just about the only silver lining throughout this film. He makes the subtle jokes that consistently land, the ones that keep me laughing until the outrageous moment occurs where I'm supposed to fall off my seat in hysterics. The problem is, those outrageous moments far outweigh Galifianakis' contribution to the film and even one funny person, being funny can't save this one.

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