I am not sure I am fully prepared for the shit storm I'm about to bring onto myself, but it needs to be said.
"The Hangover" was not that funny.
That's not to say I didn't appreciate it, in fact quite the opposite. It was somehow gratifying to see Todd Phillips strike gold with a cast of relative unknowns. "The Daily Show" and "The Office" alum Ed Helms. "Comedians of Comedy" scene-stealer Zach Galifianakis. "Wet Hot American Summer" jaw-line Bradley Cooper. That dude that played the groom.
I've long been a fan of the stand up of Galifianakis, ever since seeing him live in 2003 when he opened for Janeane Garofalo at my university. I'd never seen anything like it. His utterly deadpan delivery, stream-of-consciousness turn-of-phrase quips, and willingness to get as silly or highbrow as necessary for a laugh, is truly something to see, especially if he comes back on stage to acknowledge a standing ovation without any pants. If you have Netflix, incidentally, you can watch both the aforementioned documentary "The Comedians of Comedy" or his special "Live at The Purple Onion" with the Watch It Now feature. Come back when you're finished.
Without Zach Galifianakis along for the ride, punctuating scenes with his absurdity, this movie would have been just another comedy to drop out of the box office by week number three. Phillips' bold decision to showcase Zach, combined with the fact 2009 has been an awfully weak year for comedies, is what I attribute to "The Hangover" becoming the summer phenomenon it turned out to be.
Let me repeat that - an overall weak year for mainstream comedies, and the non-sequitor genius of Zach Galifianakis, is why this movie worked.
I saw "The Hangover" with a bunch of buddies opening weekend. We were in a packed theater, and we'd prefaced the show with a few rounds of drinks. I even had a little supply on hand to spike our Diet Cokes (we're very health conscious) as necessary. This packed theater, with a half-row of buzzed comedy fans, on opening weekend of an anticipated movie that didn't yet have the opportunity to be ruined by water-cooler conversation, was, for the most part, silent the duration of the movie.
There were no explosive group guffaws. Just scattered chuckles. The closest the theater got to hysterics was the final slide show with Zach in the elevator getting the full "Brown Bunny" treatment, and it was more shock and disgust than laughter.
Phillips' two previous best efforts, "Old School" and "Road Trip", stand above "The Hangover" in my mind for two reasons - better overall plot lines from start to finish, and bigger laugh moments. Think Will Ferrel streaking or lighting himself on fire, or Tom Green trying to compel a snake to eat a mouse. "The Hangover" with all its wandering and only intermittently amusing detours, feels sluggish in comparison. And, sadly, the movie's biggest asset, Galifianakis, could be considered its biggest detractor as well. His comedy and delivery is funny because it's so incredibly deadpan, muted, and absurd. Instead of ramping up the movie, though, it often pumps the brakes. And when Galifianakis is the biggest driving force behind a scattered hit-and-miss plot, that just makes for an okay comedy.
TOO MUCH: Mike Tyson, Rob Riggle subplot, undeserved media hype
COULD HAVE USED MORE: Heather Graham (only because I've had a wild crush on her since "Swingers", and weird sexual fantasies about her since "Boogie Nights"), rewrites, Bradley Cooper improvisation
FILM SNOB NOTE: Todd Phillips was, in the words of comedian Patton Oswalt, in 'comedy jail' due to "School For Scoundrels" and barely got this movie green lit. Since the success of "The Hangover", he's flush with eleven projects in the pipeline. Also, this is possibly funnier than anything Cooper and Zach did in the movie.
IHYFM RATING: THREE out of FIVE MEHS
IF YOU TOLD ME THIS WAS YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE, I'D THINK: This was the only comedy you'd ever seen.
Think I'm wrong? Let me have it in the comments.
