I’ve still got a buzz over “The Hangover”, and while I’m not ready to say it cracks my top 10 comedies of all time… it certainly is one of the funniest “R” rated comedies of this decade.

This movie is a great comedic release for adults, as you can guess by the “R” rating and central plot location… many of the hijinks and jokes are not intended for younger audiences. (Warning to parents and the easily offended)
 

What a great group of best friends that groom-to-be “Doug” (Justin Bartha) has looking to find him when he turns up missing after a bachelor party nobody can remember: cool guy Phil (Bradley Cooper) who thinks he can talk his way out of anything, geeky dentist Stu (“The Office”’s Ed Helms) who’s relationship is a joke all by itself, and Doug’s soon-to-be brother-in-law Alan (Zach Galifianakis) who doesn’t have it all together mentally.

There are a lot of jokes, but the filmmakers also take time to let the genius of a couple of the jokes really sink in… with moments of no dialogue after the joke so the audience can really think about what just happened.. and laugh a little more before moving on.

The plot is solid and engages the audience, the acting is good, the cinematography and editing is well done, the soundtrack is perfect, the cameos are fun, and the writing is very well crafted… with jokes getting increasingly outrageous as the movie goes on.

I’m not going to ruin the movie or any of the jokes fo you by telling you what they do or say that is so funny… but the movie’s success and many of the jokes, pranks, and hijinks all hinge on their unique characters.

Even the city of Las Vegas is a strong supporting character that the trio have to interact with during the movie.

And they pull it off… while Cooper’s cool guy is good, and Helm’s awkward geekiness is funny, the real scene stealer is the bearded Galifianakis’ whose oddball actions and sayings really complete the trio of misfits in Las Vegas.

While this movie is funnier overall than other recent “R” rated comedies “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and “Step Brothers”, it also joins these two plus “The Watchmen” (2009) for a reason I wish it hadn’t… male frontal nudity… again.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

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In this economy, if you have to choose… this isn’t the one animated family movie to pack up the kids and head to the movie theater for this year… “Monsters vs. Aliens” is a movie you should probably wait to rent.

My initial reaction when the movie ended was “that was okay”, shrugged my shoulders and started making additional notes…. but in the end, it comes back to the movie being just okay.  I’m sure that kids will like the action and the funny business, and there are jokes and references to make parents laugh, but when it comes down to deciding which movie to drop $50 at the theater to take the whole family… this isn’t the one so far this year.

 I will say that the screening I attended was in 2D, not the intended 3D, and I would guess that this movie is probably better in 3D, so add 0.5 to my rating if your seeing it in 3D.

The characters are fun with good voice talent, but the story is overly predictable, some of the comedy seems forced like there weren’t enough jokes and gags for the whole movie, so they came up with some fillers… in the end, there’s nothing really special about this movie.

As far as the funny goes… this is probably Set Rogen’s funniest role yet… the combination of the comedic character of B.O.B. (on poster, left) and not seeing Rogen makes his lines the funniest of his career.

THE BOTTOM LINE: 

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