+ Best Comedy of the Year
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| The three crapped-out stars, - and a baby wearing adult-sized sunglasses, invite us to Todd Phillips' The Hangover |
Four guys celebrate a bachelor's party in Las Vegas for one of them. Another of them secretly drugs the others to enhance the party, but the morning after the groom is missing, and the remaining three have a baby, Mike Tyson's tiger and a stolen police car that they apparently acquired during their binge.
The Hangover doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it does make men and women alike laugh out loud and enjoy themselves silly. Mike Tyson (Signal Lost (2013)), Ken Jeong (Despicable Me 2 (2013)) and Heather Graham (Boogie Nights (1997)) add color to this decidedly colorful fiesta. Rob Riggle (Absolutely Anything (2015)) and Cleo King (Dude, Where's My Car? (2000)) also bring some memorable zaniness.
The four guys' characters, portrayed by Bradley Cooper (Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2 (2017)), Ed Helms (The Lorax (2012)), Zach Galifianakis (Little Fish, Strange Pond (2009)) and Justin Bartha (National Treasure (2004)), are in themselves recognizable, funny company.
The Hangover is written by Jon Lucas (Bad Moms (2016)) and Scott Moore (Four Christmases (2008)) and directed by great New-Yorker filmmaker Todd Phillips (Due Date (2010)).
Related posts:
Todd Phillips: The Hangover Part II (2011) - Phillips & Co. follow up their sensational comedy hit with a disappointing sequel
Due Date (2010) or, Riding with Tremblay
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
Box office: 467.4 mil. $
= Mega-hit
[The Hangover premiered 30 May (Holland) and runs 100 minutes. The film is inspired by an experience one of its producers' friends had of blacking out and getting extorted upon visiting a strip club. The script was sold to Warner Bros. for 2 mil. $. An uncredited rewrite by Phillips and Jeremy Garelick added Mike Tyson, the baby and police car to it. Lindsay Lohan was first offered Graham's escort/stripper part but deemed the project without potential and later regretted it. Filming took place in Las Vegas, including at Caesar's Palace, and in California in October 2008. Helms' missing tooth was no effect job; he has a dental implant for an incisor, which was removed for shooting. The film opened #1 to a stellar 44.9 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it stayed atop for another week before getting thrown to #2 by The Proposal. It stayed in the top 5 for 5 consecutive weeks, played for a 28-week long period and grossed 277.3 mil. $ (59.3 % of the total gross). It became the highest-grossing R-rated comedy in North America ever, beating Beverly Hills Cop's (1984) 25 year record. The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 36 mil. $ (7.7 %) and Germany with 20.8 mil. $ (4.5 %). Roger Ebert concurred with me in his giving the film 3.5/4 stars. It won an AFI Movie of the Year award, a Golden Globe and was BAFTA-nominated. It also beat My Big Fat Greek Wedding by selling more than 8.6 mil. DVD and Blu-rays domestically as the biggest comedy home release ever. Two sequels followed: The Hangover Part II (2011) and The Hangover Part III (2013). The Hangover is certified fresh at 79 % with a 6.8 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of The Hangover?
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