The Hangover

This isn't normally the sort of film that I'd go to see at the cinema, although I'd probably catch up with i on TV several years down the line. However, a free ticket can tempt me to the most unlikely things and in this case, I'm extremely pleased that it did. I can't remember the last time that I laughed so much at the cinema. The premise (a bachelor party gone wrong) may sound like it's a typical blokes' film but the preview audience had a good proportion of females and they certainly enjoyed it every bit as much as the men. The key difference between The Hangover and the usual gross-out comedies inflicted on the audience is that some effort has actually been put into developing the characters and creating a plot that engages the viewer. In it's own oddball way, it all makes sense!
After the initial setup - old friends Phil and Stu and future brother-in-law Alan take Doug to Vegas for his bachelor party - the film jumps to the aftermath of the evening. There's a tiger in the bathroom, a baby in the closet, a chicken roaming around - and no Doug. Noone can remember anything; Stu (henpecked by his girlfriend and constantly announcing himself as a doctor only to be undercut by the others' revealing he's a dentist) has a tooth missing; Phil (capable of talking himself into and out of anything) has a hospital wristband; and Alan is just as weird as he was before - and it turns out that it's all his fault. Let's just say it involves the world's worst drug dealer and the purchase of roofies instead of E. The reason the film works so well is that it functions as a mystery for both the characters and the audience. We're no wiser than the trio about what's happened or why, so every surprise for them is also a surprise for us (instead of the expected Merc being driven to them by the valet, they get a police car; Stu discovers he's now a married man; Chinese gangsters keep trying to attack them; and Mike Tyson is *very* pissed off) There are some wonderful comic setpieces throughout, some going the obvious route and others heading off in very strange directions. It's not just the physical comedy, although the sight of grown men being tasered at a class demonstration or dealing with a tiger waking up in their car is inherently funny. There are some hilarious dialogue exchanges too, mostly arising naturally from the situation rather than being shoehorned in because it's a funny line. As the search progresses, the trio get increasingly cut and bruised, not to say outright humiliated, and there's a very nifty bit of misdirection about Doug that wrongfoots cast and viewer. The laughs come constantly which is exactly what you want from a comedy.
But I'm still not sure how the chicken got there ...