The Hangover (Film Review)

2009 Warner Bros. Pictures/Legendary Pictures
Directed by: Todd Phillips; Written by: Jon Lucas and Scott Moore
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Heather Graham, Justin Bartha, and Jeffrey Tambor
MPAA Rating: R; Running Time: 100 Minutes
The Nicsperiment Score: 8/10

Doug's getting married in two days! Phil and Stu want to take Doug out to Vegas for one last hurrah, but Doug says they've got to bring along his soon-to-be new brother-in-law, Alan. Alan's a little strange, but it's a trip to Sin City, and Doug is already boring enough before getting married. It's time to get crazy! However...things get a little too crazy. The quartet splurge on a Caesar's Palace penthouse, but after a night-opening toast on the roof, they wake up the next morning with a tiger, a chicken, a baby, a missing tooth, a destroyed hotel room, no memory of what happened the night before, and no Doug. Can they find Doug, get him home before the impending nuptials, and maybe, just maybe piece together how they got into this mess to begin with? Find out...on The Hangover.
That premise is always going to work. The chemistry between Bradley Cooper as the near sociopathic bro, Phil(who's clearly in denial about how much he enjoys being a non-sociopathic family man back home), Ed Helms as the high-strung cuckold, Stu (who is apparently an absolutely debauched manic when inebriated), and Zach Galifianakis as the strangely sweet simpleton, Alan (with a random dark streak), is always going to work. These three weirdos also have great chemistry with every other bizarre supporting character they come across over The Hangover's pitch black, yet hilarious 100-minute runtime.
I recently read an online piece celebrating the supposed fact that on its ten-year anniversary, The Hangover's legacy has been completely forgotten. The basis of this piece was essentially that five or six of the thousand-or-so jokes crammed into The Hangover haven't aged well, and that because of that, the film should be #canceled. Coming back to The Hangover now, I have to heartily disagree. Yes, some of the humor in this film hasn't aged well...the humor, as well as random off-hand comments in many, many, many movies hasn't aged well. We don't just #cancel all those movies. There's great societal value in a film like this, whose humor revolves around absolutely abhorrent and ugly behavior. First of all, these three men are never presented as role models, or anything anyone should aspire to, even though they are indeed presented as human. But second...
My wife and I went to see The Hangover in its opening weeks, during the summer of 2009. She was five months pregnant with our first and only child, and I spent most days mentally freaking the hell out. How would I ever take care of a baby? I could barely take care of myself! The guys in this movie have to take care of a baby for a little while, and holy cow, are they bad at it! They keep forgetting the baby is even there, giving the poor dear minor injuries every time they enter a car door without noticing they're holding it. At one point, they have to leave the car altogether, and have this exchange:
"But what about the baby?"
"Just leave it in the car."
"You can't leave a baby in the car!"
"Just crack the windows, he'll be fine!"
Absolutely abhorrent! But in the context of the film, absolutely hilarious (the baby survives). The best part is, after watching these scenes, I felt relieved about my own prospect as a father. This dumb movie about three guys who partied so hard they can't even remember it did that for me. That's why we have these kinds of movies in the first place. Movies like The Hangover hold a mirror to our darker, dumber possibilities, and let the air out of our anxieties.
In the process, director Todd Phillips has created a very stylish, good looking film. I think the reason The Hangover was such a success, underneath the high concept, chemistry of the leads, and humor, is that fact that it's just a very well made movie. Las Vegas and the surrounding desert are dreamlike and beautiful, and the flashy shot composition and editing would fit the structure of a high-end drama or action film, though they serve this filthy comedy quite well.
As for legacy...
The Hangover spawned two sequels to diminishing returns. However, it created a star out of Cooper, who would then go on to Oscar-nominated roles in Silver Linings Playbook and American Sniper, and a Writer/Director/Producer role in 2018's A Star Is Born, among many other highlights. It also brought Galifianakis, who steals the film, to prominence. It paved the way for a new generation of gross-out adult comedies, including 2011's much-heralded Bridemaids, a film which features Maya Rudolph pooping her wedding dress in the middle of a crowded street, and which is just as good and dumb as this one. The Hangover also somehow broadened the legend of the city of Las Vegas even more. And finally...when my wife saw me re-watching the movie, she said, "I can't wait until (our son) is old enough to watch it, he is going to love it."
The Hangover's legacy, ten years on, is that it's still a damn funny and well-made film about bad behavior. The foul lines may have shifted in a little since its release, but The Hangover still hits a helluva a lot of balls out of the park.