The Hangover 2009

Todd Philips is probably the pre-eminent exponent of juvenile adult comedy. From Road Trip to Old School via Starsky and Hutch and now The Hangover he has mined man's indefatigable desire to remain adolescent. The premise is simple, as most of his films are. On a stag night in Vegas, four friends, including the groom accidently take some roofies waking up the following morning absent a groom. The Hangover departs from most stag do films in that we never actually see the stag. Instead, after the opening few scenes and a rooftop drink before the night begins, we cut straight into the morning after, and like the three remaining men, we must work out what has happened to the missing groom. Enter hilarious misunderstandings and situations which make you crave to discover exactly how debauched the previous night was. What makes the film such a success is that the three leads, Bradley Cooper, the smooth talking teacher Phil, Ed Helms, the bumbling dentist Stu and stand out performer Zach Galifianakis as disturbed Alan have so much on screen chemistry and are so unique and individual that they make the proceedings so enjoyable you barely have a second between laughing to catch the next joke.

The jokes come thick and fast as the three try to piece together the events of the previous night which include a stolen police car, a wedding, a visit to a hospital, a stolen tiger, Mike Tyson, a missing tooth and Chinese gangsters. By the films climax, after countless mishaps, you'll be lucky if your sides aren't in agony from all the laughs. The Hangover is the kind of film which should be seen with a crowd, the laughter infectious, and despite a few misplaced or slightly too juvenile jokes, The Hangover is one of the of strongest and most memorable comedies of recent years. The film will also almost definitely work as a springboard for its three males leads to go onto bigger and better things, and with such great comedy timing I can only hope comedy is something they each return to.