Film: With his films "Road Trip", "Old School" and "Starsky & Hutch", director Todd Phillips has already enjoyed great success in the comedy field. But the really big hit he has only now succeeded with "Hangover". In the USA alone, the comedy grossed well over 230 million dollars and there is no end in sight to its success. A sequel is already being considered. Where does this unbelievable success of the with 35 million dollar production costs comparatively cheap production come from? Is "Hangover" really the best comedy of the year?
The film tells the story of four friends who want to celebrate an unforgettable bachelor party in Las Vegas. Before Doug (Justin Bartha) sails into the harbor of marriage, his best friends Phil (Bradley Cooper) and Stu (Ed Helms) and his somewhat odd brother-in-law-to-be Alan (Zach Galifianakis) want to give him one last taste of the perks of being a bachelor. What starts with a glass of Jägermeister ends in chaos: Phil, Stu and Alan wake up the next morning in a trashed hotel room, Doug and all memories of last night have disappeared without a trace. Instead, the hungover men are sharing the suite with a baby and a hungry tiger. Something has gone bloody wrong in the last 12 hours, and the task now is to reconstruct the events of last night in order to find Doug again and get him down the aisle on time. But that proves to be more difficult than anticipated...
Without big stars and jaw-dropping special effects, "Hangover" has managed to easily put many of the more immensely aggressively promoted summer blockbusters in its pocket. Granted, the film is funny, even hilarious at times. But that alone shouldn't explain its enormous success. Because, as with so many comedies, for every successful gag in this drunken party, there's a crude can of worms. At times, director Phillips simply overshoots the mark and strings stale jokes together with unfunny tastelessness. And yet the film works.
This may be due in part to the fact that Phillips, as he did with "Road Trip" and "Old School", manages the feat of injecting his film with plenty of endearing charm for all its crudeness. And most importantly, the four protagonists are all kind of likable. This is where it really pays off that Phillips steadfastly refused to cast his film with the current stars of the comedy scene, preferring to rely on a few more unused faces. The chemistry between the four men is perfect and they play the comedic balls to each other with refreshing ease. But even though it's the ensemble that keeps the gag flame blazing even in the weaker moments, one performer in particular stands out: Zach Galifianakis.
For now only seen in small supporting roles on the big screen ("Love Vegas", "Into the Wild"), Galifianakis is known in the US primarily for his sometimes very bizarre performances as a standup comedian. As the slightly moronic Alan, he undoubtedly provides the best laughs in the film and may well have finally entered the top league of US comedians. Galifianakis manages to make this character never come across as unlikeable or annoying, despite his extremely questionable background and some truly moronic actions. Supported by Ed Helms, best known from comedy series and shows like the "Daily Show" and the US version of "The Office", and Bradley Copper ("Alias", "The Wedding Crashers"), Galifianakis repeatedly runs to top form with stoic calm.
Not to be left unmentioned, however, are some of the supporting cast. Heather Graham is convincing in her small but fine role as a stripper with heart and boxer Mike Tyson surprises with his amusing guest appearance with plenty of self-mockery. They all ensure that "Hangover" is a lot of fun despite some comedic low blows and the overall very low intellectual content. And even though the target audience is likely to be primarily male, there's sure to be a female moviegoer or two who will get a kick out of this gagfest.
It's especially nice that Todd Phillips has carried over some cherished traditions from his previous films into his latest work as well. For example, he himself makes another guest appearance as a curly-headed pervert. He has already appeared as such in "Road Trip", where he wanted to lick Amy Smart's feet, and in "Old School", where he wanted to attend a swingers party as a guest. In "Hangover", he is interrupted by the heroes of the story just having fun with his girlfriend in the elevator. And the terrific Dan Band also makes an appearance at the end of the film. Already in "Old School" and "Starsky & Hutch" the band around comedian Dan Finnerty had very memorable performances with crude cover versions of hits like "Total Eclipse of the Heart". And here, too, they perform completely inappropriate songs at a rather buttoned-up celebration, which are a lot more fun than their original versions.
By the way, this film is well worth continuing to watch during the credits, as there are some images, some of them spontaneous during the filming, that really pack a punch. Therefore: the comical story makes despite old-known set pieces thanks to the fresh, good-humored actors and the loose production 100 minutes long fun and is therefore for friends of the somewhat rougher US comedy an absolute must!!
The Extended Cut: Exclusively on Blu-Ray, "Hangover" runs just under 8 minutes longer. This doesn't really make the movie better, just a bit cruder and also a bit (8 minutes, in fact) funnier. However, this extended version is only in the original English version with optional subtitles.
Picture + Sound: The Blu-ray's picture is clean, has good detail sharpness, somewhat unbalanced contrasts, and a convincing color mix that is especially effective in the contrasts between the glitz of Las Vegas and the barren desert landscape. Overall, the audio is well mixed, with most of the action taking place in the front. Only occasional interspersed sound effects and the great soundtrack provide fuller surrounds here and there. For a comedy, this is perfectly adequate overall and therefore very good overall!
Extras: In addition to the extended film version, the Blu-ray features a very amusing picture-in-picture commentary on the theatrical version, with director Todd Phillips and his leads Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis and Ed Helms chatting about the filming in a relaxed atmosphere. The atmosphere is even so relaxed that Zach Galifianakis (apparently) dozes off for a moment. Unfortunately, there are no subtitles to the commentary, so a good knowledge of English is a prerequisite to enjoy this extra.
The rest of the bonus material comes then again with optional subtitles. So there's an interactive map of Las Vegas that follows the trail of devastation and provides short documentaries on the original locations and the filming there (about 16 mins in total). An amusing gag reel (approx. 7 min.), more pictures of the lost camera, two musical excerpts from the film (each just under 1.30 min.), a short montage of the best slapstick scenes (approx. 7 min.) and improvised scenes by Ken Jeong (approx. 7 min.) also provide one or the other little laugh. Not really much, but a few nice moments offers the bonus material in any case.
Conclusion: With over 2 million viewers in Germany and a worldwide box office takings of over 400 million dollars, "Hangover" can rightly be called one of the very big surprise hits of the year. The Blu-Ray presents itself in technically very good garb and has in contrast to the meagerly equipped DVD also some nice bonuses to offer - including the eight minutes longer film version. All this makes this disc an absolute must for fans of wacky comedy!
Original title: The Hangover
Director: Todd Phillips
Length: approx. 100 mins / extended cut approx. 108 mins.
FSK: age 12+
number of discs: 1
languages: German (Dolby Digital 5.1), English (Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 5.1), Extended Cut English only
Subtitles: Dutch, English, Danish, Finnish, French, German, Icelandic, Swedish
Image Format: 16:9 (2.4:1) 1080p HiDef
Extras: Picture-In-Picture Commentary (on the theatrical version), Rant Mix, Iron Mike Online Teaser, More Lost Camera Images, Route of Devastation, Gag Reel, Ken Jeong Special, Dan Band Video, Song, Collection of Slapstick Scenes
Regional Code: B
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