"The Hangover" Dated, but Still Good?

 

    The Hangover is actually good? I can't believe I'm saying this. I mean I literally only remember this movie from seeing the trailers as a kid and being excited at the prospect of the fact that it showed boobies on my screen. I wish I was kidding but I was also just a young child looking at trailers on YouTube. So going into this movie I just had very little faith in it. Whether it be them immediately starting out with a slur, or the dated music (even if I thought Can't Tell Me Nothing by Kanye West did indeed fit quite well), I just had little faith this movie would have stood the test of time. But it did, and by the end I was even tempted to watch The Hangover Part II right after. So let's talk about it.

    I think what stood out to me the most was the casting somehow? I mean the three main characters, Alan, Stu and Phil were such clear caricatures, but they worked? And by the end I oddly felt that their chemistry was quite enjoyable. Like on one hand, you think characters like Stu and Phil would never work in any capacity, I mean Phil just seems like he cares too much about being this picture perfect image of masculinity, but then you remember he's the one that's working as a school teacher, has less money, and literally is the only one there that actually has a wife and kids? Yet it feels believable, like they really have been friends that have been together through a lot.

    They give each other shit because they know they can, because they know their friendship can withstand it. You never really feel like that is what's at jeopardy. Oddly enough, I even came around on Alan by the end. Like many, I was disgusted by the insinuation he was a child sex offender, and him jacking off a baby, and roofying everyone, but also it was kind of satisfying to be able to finally figure out where that white guy doing math meme came from. I found him considerably less annoying by the end than the beginning, and I guess that's a win in my book.

    I must say though the more I type this review out the more concerned I am about basically just being a prisoner of the moment when it came to this film. Like don't get me wrong, it was pretty solid, my sister laughed at it more than I did for what it's worth. But I also have to acknowledge that you need to ignore quite a bit to be able to get past it. I mean Ken Jeong's fake Asian impression is bad, not hilariously bad, just bad. Like I think I could get a racist to do a potentially better, or funnier impression, no offense to Mr. Jeong. I don't know what directions they gave him, but it was quite forced, but I put that more on them than on Ken. Also the ending was alright, it comes together a bit magically, but this movie is quite thin plot wise already, so make of it what you will.

Final Score: 65/100

    Some movies are like a bad sixty, in the sense that they barely squeak out a good score, and you don't particularly come out of it feeling great, leaving a lot on the bone, but others are good sixties? If that makes any sense? This is one of those good sixties to me. It's a pretty solid film to watch once just to spend a weekend night or something. It's quite dated as well and might mortify you, but still manages to be pretty funny at parts. So in that sense it really has rung out just about all it could have done considering the circumstances. Which is impressive in my eyes. You know what? Don't be surprised if this film is enough for me to complete the trilogy.