Why The Hangover Works
By Hervé St-Louis
Jun 19, 2009 - 18:54:11 PM
Writer(s): Jon Lucas, Scott Moore
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Heather Graham, Justin Bartha
Directed by: Todd Phillips
Produced by: Scott Budnick, Thomas Tull, Jon Jashni
Running Time: 1 hr. 39 min
Release Date: 5 June 2009
Rating: R
Distributors: Warner Bros. Pictures Distribution
Genre: Comedy
A few months ago, I made a startling discovery. Women generally do not like Family Guy. There’s a brand of humour in that cartoon series that’s grosser than The Simpsons and connects with some Neanderthal part of the male brain without having to flag the topic of sex to gain access to the short attention span of guys. The Hangover is a the type of film that gives Family Guy enough competition when it comes to entertaining the male psyche.
Directed by Todd Phillips tells the story of three buddies, Phil Wenneck (Bradley Cooper), Stu Price (Ed Helms), Alan Garner (Zach Galifianakis) who take with the soon to be married groom and best friend Doug Billings (Justin Bartha) to Las Vegas for a quick bachelor’s party. On the way to Last Vegas, the boys lose Billings and any memory of what happened for about twelve hours, thanks to a trusty date rape pill. The trio must figure out what happened to the groom, investigate a maze of crazy and wacky circumstances in time to attend and return Billings for his wedding.
If I were a woman, I would study The Hangover closely to learn about the male psyche. This film is the ultimate guy movie and represent what many of us see ourselves. We aren’t complicated. We like simple fun. We’re irresponsible sometimes, or wish we were more often. The Hangover doesn’t require any brain cell from the average guy and speaks in that crude crazy language where a grunt and a squint are all that are needed to get the message. Except it ads tons of funny jokes the best of which are found in the end credits. I’m not sure how much I really want women to understand me. Maybe I don’t care. But anyhow, the women in attendance at the theatre where I saw The Hangover were laughing as hard as the guys they were sitting next to. Seems like this film is helping breach the gender divide. Women are starting to laugh at the same jokes guys laugh about and that movie is responsible for all this funny nonsense!
The film had a good dose of something guys hate – female nagging. The bride was a nagger, but she wasn’t as bad as Stu’s girlfriend which they exaggerated to prove a point. She was the ultimate control freak girlfriend that guys dread. And what did the film offer to Stu instead? A stripper with better looks, a nice smile and simplicity that any guy would fall for. It’s a formula, but it works. Other elements of this formula include cracked ribs, too many drinks, wild driving and a lot of gambling.
In terms of plot The Hangover uses the flashback sequence to put viewers in the driver’s seat of the action so they can discover at the same time as the guys what went through during the night. That’s an effective device to generate interest and to help viewers relate to the characters.
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