Film File - The Hangover

Stag nights can often be a disastrous idea, not just in real life - but especially in Hollywood. As an excuse to get some knuckle-headed guys together for salacious fun, this scenario has propped up many a teen flick over the years, and doubtless will do so into the future. 'The Hangover" is, happily, a step up from the usual predictable stew of boozing, babes and the inevitable aftermath. Two days before his wedding, Doug (Justin Bartha) drives to Las Vegas with his best buddies Phil and Stu (Bradley Cooper and Ed Helms) and his future brother-in-law Alan (Zach Galifianakis), for a blow-out bachelor party they vow they"ll never forget. The bachelor party is a time-honoured tradition where countless men on the brink of their wedding are taken out by a select few of their best buddies for a symbolic last hurrah. This night out is awfully close to the day of Doug"s actual ceremony and his future father-in-law has entrusted him with his prized Mercedes….so it could be tricky. But when the foursome checks into Caesar"s Palace, they"re feeling relaxed. Stepping out onto the Caesar"s Palace rooftop to start their evening with a toast amidst the wraparound glow of Vegas lights under the desert sky, they raise their glasses to Doug"s upcoming new life and 'to a night the four of us will never forget'. And that"s the last thing any of them can remember. Next morning, Phil, Stu and Alan slowly awaken with their faces flat on the marble floor as sunshine streams in through the windows, revealing a palatial suite that is totally trashed. Party dolls bob atop the Jacuzzi bubbles, a chair still smoulders from what appears to have been a fire and an ottoman dangles from the ceiling. Add to that a live tiger prowling in the bathroom, a slumbering infant nobody knows in the laundry basket, and, oh yes, one more little thing - the groom is missing without trace. As the three revellers struggle to regain consciousness, each reacts to the scene in his own way as the pieces of what really happened the night before join up in a jigsaw nightmare of the party from Hell. Directed by Todd Philips - a man all too familiar with detailing men"s failings in films like 'Old School" and 'Starsky & Hutch" - and scripted by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore - 'The Hangover" is a crude, lewd, vulgar and sometimes very funny movie that"s perfect for a night out at the cinema. As the three groomsmen slowly begin to piece together the events of the previous 24 hours, the crazy curves of a madcap disaster take shape with each man confronting his own demons in the process. Forced to extend their stay in Vegas to search for the groom as the clock ticks unrelentingly downward toward his wedding day, the lads, and the action, ramps up with each awful discovery of what really transpired. After the madcap pace of the first 60 minutes subsides into a slightly saggy second half, 'The Hangover" never opts for that 'happily ever after" vibe that usually ruins this kind of film. Guys from 18 to 50 will love this one - many of them wishing their stag was half as wild. The girlfriends, on the other hand, may want to give it a miss - unless they want their worst suspicions about men confirmed.