THE MOVIE PAGES presents in THE HANGOVER thehangover.htm

What Do The Critics Say?

"The jokes and sight gags are hit and miss, but the plot and characters are compelling and it has a lot of twists and turns that keep you guessing right up to the end."
Robert Roten LARAMIE MOVIE SCOPE
"The Hangover is an outrageous, entertaining, laugh-out-loud classic from beginning to end."
Wilson Morales BLACKFILM
"Rude, crude and downright distasteful: this film is brilliant."
SUN ONLINE
"Hilarious from go-to-whoa and visually compelling in its rarely seen Vegas-by-day aesthetic, The Hangover is the very definition of raucous entertainment, and will undoubtedly rate as one of the comedies of the year."
Erin Free FILMINK
"Hugely enjoyable and frequently hilarious, this is a sharply written comedy with strong comic performances from a terrific ensemble cast."
Matthew Turner VIEW LONDON
"A stripper, a stolen police car, a tazer gun demonstration, illegal drugs, a used condom, a naked Asian gambler, a bawling baby, a bemused chicken and a tiger are part of this outrageously rowdy and funny comedy that is anything but a headache."
Louise Keller URBAN CINEFILE

"What makes any film work, and this is particularly true of comedy, is making it real, even though everything we’re seeing is completely unbelievable. I laughed a lot with this one."
Margaret Pomeranz ABC AT THE MOVIES
"Pushing the envelope unlike anything the industry has offered us this year; "The Hangover" provides the escape factor. Prepare for the wild ride!"
Jolene Mendez ENTERTAINMENT SPECTRUM
"A devilishly smart comedy gem that manages to blend the raunchy and the rowdy with some deliciously left-field humour."
Mark Adams SUNDAY MIRROR
"Debauched, depraved and very, very funny."
Charles Gant HEAT MAGAZINE
"Vulgar, obscene and offensive, The Hangover is one of the funniest movies I've seen in a very long time and is surely destined to become a comedy classic."
Brandon Fibbs BRANDONFIBBS.COM
"This represents the worst sort of pandering slop, the type that appeases impressionable audiences who don't even realize they're being insulted."
Matt Brunson CREATIVE LOAFING

The Inside Story Just like the 'hen's' night, the bachelor party is a time-honored tradition. Every weekend across the country, countless men on the brink of their wedding dates are taken out by a select few of their best buddies for a symbolic last hurrah. "Just a few friends getting together," says director Todd Phillips. "It’s such a typical thing to do, they don’t even want to call it a bachelor party because they see it more as a guys’ night out. A nice dinner, some laughs, and a toast to the new groom. You know: Harmless." Granted, in the case of "The Hangover", this night out is awfully close to the day of Doug’s actual ceremony. And yes, his future father in law has entrusted him with his prized Mercedes, with one condition: Alan isn't allowed, under any circumstances, allowed to drive it. And sure, Stu has to lie to his girlfriend about where they’re going. And yes, they’re taking along Doug’s new brother in law Alan, who’s socially awkward and somewhat of a loose cannon. But other than that, what do they have to worry about? When the foursome checks in to Caesars Palace they’re feeling good and relaxed. Stepping out onto Caesars’ rooftop to start their evening with a toast amidst the wraparound glow of Vegas lights under the desert sky, they raise their glasses to Doug’s upcoming new life and "to a night the four of us will never forget." And that’s the last thing any of them can remember. Sound familiar, guys? "But that’s not so unusual, as bachelor parties go," Phillips grants. "Getting drunk and waking up next to a pile of empty bottles is pretty much par for the course. For a movie about a hangover to end all hangovers, we had to take things a gigantic step beyond." After some thought they had their answer: "What would be the craziest night you could possibly have and still live to talk about it." "How about, there’s a baby in their room, that they’ve never seen before, and a tiger in the bathroom?," says producer Dan Goldberg, who marks his fourth feature collaboration with Phillips ( following "Road Trip", "Old School" and "School for Scoundrels".) As the three revelers struggle to regain consciousness, each reacts to the scene in his own way. Leader of the pack Phil, surveys the damage with a confident but blurry eye, assumes they had a good time and that Doug will turn up soon. Dr Stu (no he's not a real doctor but a Dentist), the worrier, and the one whose credit card is on file with the front desk, launches into a panic that escalates with each new offense he uncovers in the wreckage of their four thousand dollar a night suite. And Alan kind of takes it all in with a crazy sense of wonder: that is, once he gets over the fact that he was just standing, half naked, within pouncing distance of a real, live, full-grown tiger. Bradley Cooper was cast as Phil, "the guy with the plan, the fast-talker," says Goldberg ("Stripes"). The only one of the group who has experienced marriage and fatherhood, Phil feels a bit restricted by his life as a family man and high school English teacher and was looking forward to this trip as a rare opportunity to cut loose with his old college gang. He’s not about to let this little setback ruin his weekend. Cooper ("Yes Man") says Phil thinks, "Let’s just get some aspirin and take this one step at a time. No need to panic. No matter how uncontrollable the situation becomes, he keeps thinking he can manage it. And he keeps trying, right up to the point where it absolutely gets away from him." "Bradley is very funny, both on and off the screen, but I think of him more as a leading man, and in this story he takes on the role of the de facto leader," says Phillips. "He’s the one who emerges from this morning-after mess and tries to get the other two to focus so they can figure out what happened."

Ed Helms, was cast as Dr Stu. He commuted to the Las Vegas set from L.A. to accommodate his shooting schedule for "The Office". "I was flattered the filmmakers liked me for the part, but at the same time slightly offended, because Stu is kind of a dork, an anal-retentive nervous Nellie character. If you break them down to archetypes, Phil would be the cool guy, Alan would be the weirdo and Stu would be the nerd. I have to wonder what it is about me that made them think of me for that particular role." Perhaps it’s because, Phillips attests, "Ed kills as a hen-pecked, pent-up guy who is long overdue for a complete meltdown." Of the three groomsmen, Alan (played by Zach Galifianakis), is the one whose temperament is probably best suited to their current situation, but that’s not to say he has any answers either. A fan of Galifianakis’ inventive stand-up comedy, 1998 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize winner Phillips ("Frat House") knew he would shine in a part crafted to his unique style and creativity, and so cast him as Alan, "a guy with two left feet who always makes the wrong decision." "Alan is a little bit off. He has no friends and no idea that people think he’s weird, because he believes everything he does and says is completely cool and appropriate," Galifianakis ("Corky Romano") explained. How would he describe his character? "Someone who probably took too many barbiturates at too many raves. The good thing about this role is that it doesn’t have to make a lot of sense. Generally, an actor is aware of things like motive and consistency for his character, but Alan functions on his own perverse logic." "Stuff will come out of his mouth and you don’t know where it’s coming from," Goldberg ("Evolution") affirmed. "It can be completely non-referential, but hilarious. Alan is a true outsider but he clearly wants to be friends with these guys, and he does manage to endear himself in his own strange way through this disaster they all go through together." Justin Bartha was cast as the groom to be, Doug Billings. "Doug is the voice of reason in the group. I wanted to make him the guy who tied the other personalities together," Bartha says. "He’s the common denominator and when he’s lost, all hell breaks loose." "Doug is vital to the story. He’s the glue that holds these guys together and when he goes missing they suddenly seem less like friends and more like a three-way odd couple," observes Jon Lucas ("Ghosts of Girlfriends Past"), who with partner Scott Moore, wrote “The Hangover” screenplay. "He becomes the Holy Grail: that one thing the heroes desperately need to find and that we desperately want them to find." "Luckily," says Moore ("Four Holidays"), "they care enough about him that they’re willing to endure everything that comes next, and they stick together to find him no matter how much they might piss each other off." "The best humor comes from the heart," Phillip ("Starsky & Hutch") asserts. "You need to believe that these guys are really concerned about each other and have a genuine connection, and that elevates things beyond just the telling of jokes. It’s about exploring the natural humor and awkwardness of male friendships and the kind of things that bond them. The script was a blueprint for Bradley, Ed and Zach, and they took it and ran with it. The same was true for each of the actors we cast in supporting roles. When you populate a film with genuinely funny people it helps to keep that momentum going." The film’s forward in reverse structure especially appealed to Phillips as a storyteller. "Starting from that morning, these three have to put their heads together and pursue one potential lead after another that will take them back through every twist and turn and screw-up of the night before and, hopefully, get them to the place where they last saw Doug."

"And the audience gets to take that ride along with them. You pick up the pieces when they do. In some ways it’s like a classic detective story," Phillips offers. Except, as Goldberg points out: "These detectives have pounding headaches." "The beginning of the story lures you in one direction and then completely stops and swings another way," says Cooper, who played Zachary 'Sack' Lodge in "Wedding Crashers". "You never know what’s coming," adds 2008 Screen Actors Guild Award winner Helms ("The Office"). "Everything is out of left field, every single scene is, like, whoa, where did that come from? But it all fits together. It’s not just a lot of disconnected set pieces; every big action or crazy scene moves the story forward and cranks it into overdrive until it all gets justified at the end." Helms also notes: "It gives Zach Galifianakis the opportunity to appear in a jock strap." Galifianakis is still questioning whether or not that’s a good thing. "When you’re in a movie and you’re wearing a jock, you know you’ve made it," he revealed. Galifianakis told director Todd Phillips, "We’ve seen chubby guys in tightie-whities on screen before; what about taking it to the next level?" Of course, he agreed. "I can’t believe I mentioned it. So now I’m in a jockstrap and my poor mother. Sorry, Mom." The trail of clues our hungover heroes unearth will lead them through some of the city’s lesser-known 'hot' spots, namely: the ER, the Metro Police Station and a wedding chapel somewhere off-off-off The Strip. Helping the guys unravel their tour of shame is Jade, played by 1999 ShoWest Female Star of Tomorrow, Heather Graham. She describes her character as "a stripper/escort with a sweet disposition and a relaxed point of view on true love. She’s quirky and kind of cool, a hippie stripper. She has no pretense." Taking the role gave Graham ("Bobby") the opportunity to flaunt her pole-dancing prowess, newly acquired in an L.A. area fitness class. Graham recalled an interesting conversation she had with a Las Vegas cab driver during production. "He asked me about the movie and I told him it’s about these three guys who get wasted and can’t remember what they did the night before." The cabbie quickly responded with: "Yeah, I’ve had many nights like that." Unfortunately, not everyone the guys run into are as nice as Jade. Rob Riggle of "The Daily Show" appears as Officer Franklin, not exactly one of Las Vegas's finest, but unnaturally talented with a stun gun. Ken Jeong ("Pineapple Express") is the lethal and completely unhinged (and very funny) Mr Chow, intent on seeking revenge for offenses that neither Phil, Stu, nor Alan have the vaguest recollection of having committed. Then there's comedy club headliner Mike Epps ("Soul Man") involves the three in a sub-plot of mistaken identity that could cost the guys eighty thousand dollars they don’t have. But their most dramatic encounter, by far, is with Mike Tyson. Appearing as himself in the movie, Tyson takes a playful jab at his formidable badass image, performs a little 'air drum' number and reminds everyone that, retired or not, he has absolutely, positively still got it. Stand-up comedy veteran Helms credits the fighter for one of the funniest lines uttered during production. "Todd was giving Tyson direction on how to punch Zach in a scene." "Mike, we need you to do it a little more like this and move your hand over a bit," Phillips asked. Tyson responded: "I can’t believe the captain of the high school debate team is teaching me how to throw a punch!" Helms says "It broke up everyone on the set. Who knew the guy was funny?" Throw into the mix: big stunts, car crashes, fights, property damage, crazy naked guys, tigers, guys getting punched, and you can see that a lot of effort went into planning, writing and getting the film to the screen. "It was a tough job," says Goldberg. Synopsis

It's two days before his the biggest day of his life and with the wedding plans all in place and everything under control, groom Doug takes time-out to drive from L.A. to Las Vegas with his groomsmen, Phil and Stu and and his future brother in law Alan, for a blow-out bachelor party they vow they won't ever forget. But when the three groomsmen wake up the next morning with pounding headaches, they can’t remember a thing. Their luxury hotel suite is beyond trashed, there's a chicken on the loose, a tiger in the bathroom, a baby and, the groom is nowhere to be found. With no clue about what's happened and little time to spare, the three guys must attempt to retrace their bad decisions from the night before in order to figure out where things went wrong in the hope of finding Doug and getting him back to L.A. in time for his wedding. The more they begin to uncover, the deeper in trouble they get.

The Verdict

"No doubt, kids who love to spend their weekends wasted so badly that (like the three groomsmen in "The Hangover"), they haven't a clue as to what has transpired during the hours they've been totally whacked out of their brains, will find a lot to identify with in this film. It does in so many ways, immitate what many young adults and alcohol-fueled teenagers participate in, everywhere around the globe these days. Hey! Why not! Lifes for the living, isn't that the catch-cry? And, after all, immortality is state of mind we all share in our youth. Nothing can touch us. We're bulletproof. With our whole life in front of us, many take unnecessary risks. But what the heck, its all for the sake of a 'good time'. And gee, we're only young once. Hopefully their will be some in the audience who will see the darker side of life in this very funny comedy about a groom and his three groomsmen who go on a drug and alcohol fueled bender that they can't remember one damn thing from when they left their luxury suite in a Las Vegas Hotel and came-to the next morning, minus the groom, but having gained: a tiger, a chicken, a baby and, a LVPD patrol car. While "The Hangover" is not in the same league as "I Love You, Man", it does have a better title. And, one that many can instantly relate to. There's plenty of laughs to be had and there are some really outstanding comedic moments when Ken Jeong appears on screen as Mr Chow. Yes, there are a few little flat spots and the comedy at times is a little amateurish. No make that corny. In the final analysis, "The Hangover" comes up trumps for laughs and value for your buck. I'm sure that when "The Hangover" makes its DVD release, it will be a huge hit. In the meantime, go see it on the big screen at your local multiplex. 4 STARS." Who Plays Who?

Bradley Cooper
Ed Helms
Zach Galifianakis
Justin Bartha
Heather Graham
Sasha Barrese
Jeffrey Tambor
Ken Jeong
Rachael Harris
Mike Tyson
Mike Epps
Jernard Burks
Rob Riggle
Cleo King
Bryan Callen
Matt Walsh

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Phil Wenneck
Stu Price
Alan Garner
Doug
Jade
Tracy Garner
Sid Garner
Mr Chow
Melissa
Himself
Black Doug
Leonard
Officer Franklin
Officer Garden
Eddie Palermo
Dr Valsh

The Production Team

Director
Written by
Produced by
Original Music
Cinematography
Film Editor
Production Designer
Supervising Art Director
Art Direction
Set Decoration
Costume Designer

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Todd Phillips
Jon Lucas & Scott Moore
Daniel Goldberg & Todd Phillips
Christophe Beck
Lawrence Sher
Debra Neil-Fisher
Bill Brzeski
Andrew Max Cahn
A Todd Holland
Danielle Berman
Louise Mingenbach