There's something undeniably great about Todd Phillips' latest slice of laddish largesse. The plot synopsis alone, four guys head out to Vegas for the mother of all stag nights, instils a simple, unadulterated sense of joy. You know exactly what you're getting with this comedy yet it's guaranteed to win you over all the same. We've all been there! Three best friends and a tagalong nutjob of a brother-in-law retreat to Vegas for one last night of debauchery and scandal. What most people only talk about, these guys actually do. Only problem is when they awake the next morning, none of them can remember what happened to them and the bridegroom is missing! Essentially \"The Hangover\" is a sketch or pub joke made flesh, stretched over 90 minutes and enlivened with some of the best comedy characters of the last five years! It may seem slight but where else can you find three hapless and hungover guys tame a tiger, adopt a baby, scrap with a naked Triad and jam to Phil Collins with 'Iron' Mike Tyson. Phillips certainly knows how to assemble a cast. His previous effort, \"Old School\", combined the erstwhile talents of Luke Wilson, Vince Vaughan and Will Ferrell to brilliant effect and here in \"The Hangover\" he's done it again. Justin Bartha, essentially the straight guy foil for the rest of the team, plays Doug - the groom to be and soon to be AWOL best mate and victim to one of the most bonkers crazy stags ever conceived. The in-demand Bradley Cooper as Phil is the Alpha Male of the bunch and finds himself lumbered with piecing together the events of the previous night. Ed Helms (from the US equivalent of \"The Office\") gets a little typecast as the tightly wound dentist Stu and stand up comic Zach Galifianakis brings the Crazy as Alan, Doug's socially awkward brother-in-law. There's even room enough for Heather Graham to make a welcome appearance - as if letting us in on Rollergirl's later years as a single mom! \"The Hangover\", much like a disparate group of lads, relies almost entirely on the energies of its leads and thankfully for Phillips all four of the guys here are on career-making \/ career best form. Cooper pulls off the go-to-guy shtick effortlessly and Galifianakis, a relative unknown on these shores, is just plain fun to watch with his full on facial fuzz and jockstrap combo. Arguably the stand up makes the film, and his performance is not unlike that of John Belushi's legendary turn in \"Animal House\". Like Alan, \"The Hangover\" is simple fare yet charming and endlessly rewarding!<\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n<\/div>","fnc":"googleTrackerHelper.doTrackPage( '\/'The-Hangover-film_options~17456'\/Reviews\/ViewAll\/1' );"}