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Bookmark this pageThe Hangover (2009)
Director: Todd Phillips
Movie review
From Time Out London
Mainstream comedy has always been a staunchly phallocentric affair, but recent months have seen a shift away from the loveable-doofus antics of the Frat pack into altogether more worrying territory. Spearheaded by the UK’s own ‘Lesbian Vampire Killers’, 2009’s comic slate displays a disturbing attitude towards the fairer sex: sure, they’re nice to look at, but they’re also superfluous, and potentially even life-threatening.Todd Phillips’s previous big success, ‘Old School’, fell squarely in the frat camp, marrying ’80s-style debauchery with a broad streak of appealingly daft slapstick. ‘The Hangover’ retains the former but ditches the latter in favour of a series of loud, aggressive, increasingly unlikely set-piece gags. An intriguing, time-hopping set-up – a group of friends wake after a Vegas stag party and attempt to piece together the previous night’s activities – is wasted on obnoxious characters, celebrity cameos and crass attempts at humour.
It doesn’t help that the central cast is almost entirely forgettable, from the smug lounge lizardry of Bradley Cooper to the boisterous Jack Black-lite of Zach Galifianakis. A genuine star – Vaughn, Rudd, either Wilson brother – would have made these characters likeable, rather than simply pitiful and tiring. Ironically, the only memorable performance in the film – aside from a lumbering, if entirely appropriate, cameo from Mike Tyson – is given by Heather Graham as a hapless hooker. Her geisha-like docility, contrasted with a vicious, hectoring performance from Rachael Harris as a castrating girlfriend, sums up the film’s prehistoric attitude: women may be cute, but dudes don’t need the hassle.
Author: Tom Huddleston
Time Out London Issue 2025, June 11 - 17, 2009
User reviews of this film
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- Duck N said...
- Posted on Aug 23 2009 21:24 Ok first of all knocked up was a boring piece of crap , nothing funny about seeing pregnant people do it or watching child birth, some sense of humour some people have this is the best comedy ever made watch it REAL comedy fans
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- chris the twat said...
- Posted on Aug 16 2009 16:57 this fil is incredibly bad,stunningly unfunny,despearte,totally dated,cringing,awful script,awful cliche characters and acting.only go and see it as an excersise in masochism and bad film study
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- Bettie said...
- Posted on Aug 11 2009 16:39 My boyfriend and I were looking forward to seeing this film. We feel totally let down by all the hype. And no, we are not prudes and we find lots of movies VERY funny: "Superbad", "American Pie", "Crank", "Knocked Up", etc... This was a total piece of steaming-hot shit! The best actor was the frigging tiger! Brain-damaged child-molesting jerkoffs are not funny. It's too bad we can't give a zero star rating. Not many people in the audience were laughing.
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- michael said...
- Posted on Aug 09 2009 14:50 shut up russle. best film ever.
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- Thomas Noctor said...
- Posted on Aug 07 2009 16:11 I was very sceptical about this film but how wrong was I to be! This is the funniest film I've seen better than any American Pie! The cast are unbelievable, except Heather Graham who cant act. But other than that its unbelievable from start to finish. People with no sense of humor wont like this. For comedy fans this is a must!!!!!!
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- Remi said...
- Posted on Aug 06 2009 16:57 This film is brilliant must see couldn't stop laughing
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- Olivia said...
- Posted on Aug 04 2009 16:09 It's hilarious, simply hilarious. The bit with the kid and eventually taser, the end credit photos....
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- ELAINE said...
- Posted on Aug 01 2009 08:27 SORRY FORGOT TO RATE IT...
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- elaine said...
- Posted on Aug 01 2009 08:25 This film is a must to see of you have a good sense of humour. I laughed from beginning to end. I dont understand how anyone could say that this is not a funny film - Get a grip you lot who dont think this was amusing to watch, wheres your sense of humour!
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- Ross said...
- Posted on Jul 31 2009 16:02 watch it, OR BE SQUARE!!!
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- L said...
- Posted on Jul 30 2009 07:33 the credits are the only good bit!
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- zoe said...
- Posted on Jul 29 2009 15:01 A top film, deffo worth watching!!
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- Diego said...
- Posted on Jul 29 2009 12:16 I was to watch this tonight. I came here to read some reviews but the level of stupidity in some of the comments left by people who found this film great fun (I repeat, some people not everyone) makes me think that it is probably not worth. Thanks.
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- Jo said...
- Posted on Jul 27 2009 13:05 This film is hysterical, go and see it
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- jess said...
- Posted on Jul 26 2009 20:16 This film was seriously funny it used some great out of the box thinking and was different to some of your average blundering comedies. The characters were varied and funny you could really relate to the film and appreciate what was done. A neat clever comedy that had the audience in fits of laughter I'd gladly pay to see this film again, and I am definately buying it asap. Amazingly funny. :)
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Cast & crew
Director: Todd Phillips
Cast: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Heather Graham, Justin Bartha, Sasha Barrese, Jeffrey Tambor, Ken Jeong, Rachael Harris, Mike Tyson, Mike Epps full cast
Genre(s): Comedy
Rated: 15
Duration: 100 mins
UK Release: Jun 12 2009
US Release: Jun 5 2009
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