The Hangover

I have been very neglectful of my blog recently, and for that I must apologise. For reasons that I may write about at some point, my head has not been in a healthy writing place. However, I have still managed to take a trip to that big dark room where you sit transfixed to a big screen, ignore the people you are with, and pay stupid prices for drinks, popcorn and ice cream - the cinema! The unsociable escapist's dream, I love it!

So, as my title suggests, I went to see 'The Hangover'; a state I am unfortunately quite well acquainted with, but, after seeing the trailers on television, none of mine, so far, have included a tiger in my bathroom. I was intrigued.

I went along with my housemates, all of us girls in the 20-21 age range. I mention this because the film follows a group of twenty-something men on a wild stag weekend to Las Vegas - so the characters, setting and circumstance were not something any of us were familiar with. Women in this film, in general, are pretty much exposed as a problem - an irate fiance waiting at home, an evil, controlling girlfriend, and a rather clingy hooker. But, I'm not going to go and get all feminist - it's not my style - because, when you're on a boys' weekend, I imagine women are simply just temptation, or a pain in the...neck. And if they had been any more of a feature, it would have ruined the focus on the strained interaction between the misfitted group of men.

Those that experience this almighty hangover are as follows; Doug the bridegroom (Justin Bartha) with his best friends Phil (Bradley Cooper) and Stu (Ed Helms), and his future brother-in-law Alan (Zach Galifianakis) who's amazing warped one-liners steal the show.

The group vow to go have themselves a night they will never forget, only to wake the next morning to discover that they have all forgotten everything and lost Doug along the way. With time running out before the wedding, all Phil, Stu and Alan can do is retrace their steps to try and work out where they could have left him. Their trail takes them all around Vegas with babies, lost teeth, and trapped Chinese men - it is full of surprises, and manages to maintain originality from other 'sick humour' films whilst keeping the audience laughing.

I have to admit, as a huge fan of the film making machine that is Seth Rogan and his chums in the likes of '40 Year Old Virgin', 'Knocked Up' and 'Superbad' to name but a few, I was a little worried that 'The Hangover', being in the same vein, would not be able to live up to them. But now, if I hear that director Todd Phillips is making another movie - I'm watching it! I'll be keeping a lookout for Zach Galifianakis too, for that matter.

The Hangover - 4/5