The Hangover

“Ultimately, The Hangover is only the symptom of a larger cultural pathology, the pleasures offered by patriarchal bullshit and intolerance. Until we stop laughing collectively and out loud at crass fag jokes, films like The Hangover will be made again and again.”

Really? My God, there is nothing worse than a litle education.

Comment by Daniel from Omaha, NE — June 5, 2009 @ 10:05 am

Do movie reviewers actually enjoy movies?

Comment by Loren — June 5, 2009 @ 3:51 pm

Here’s what I don’t understand about the whole “Apatow/male comedy/bromance” backlash: people have making these kinds of movies for 30 YEARS. What is Animal House? Caddyshack? A lot of guys who treat women as sex objects, drink, party, and a bunch of really dumb jokes (Actually, one could argue that the new comedies are self-aware, and that women are treated with respect, but never mind). The Mel Brooks and Zucker comedies are ridiculously silly parodies that exist entirely to make you laugh (a hugely admirable reason for something to exist). But hey, no one points that out because they’re not “dumb comedies” anymore, they’re now “classics”. Trust me, in 25 years, most of the Apatow movies will be considered classics too.

Now I’m not saying that the Hangover is great-I haven’t seen it, so I can’t say-but your review bothers me. It feels like most critics aren’t fair to comedies because they are designed to entertain you—but many great movies are not, in fact, intellectual exercises. Star Wars is a wonderful movie, and was not made to be hugely complex or thought-provoking-it’s a magnificent piece of myth, of space opera. Who gives a rats ass about intellect? Movies entertain, they enthrall, they do not always make you think.

Who knows? The Hangover may be terrible (although both Rolling Stone and Roger Ebert loved it). But comedies like Anchorman, Pineapple Express (which was in fact better than The Dark Knight), and others deserve to be fairly evaluated.

P.S. So as not to entirely kiss the ass of Judd Apatow (and I don’t want to), Knocked Up is actually pretty overrated. The subplot was left open-ended and the love story was undercooked. Ah, whatever—whenever the Rogen crew screw up, they just create something better.

Comment by Conor Crockford — June 6, 2009 @ 7:38 pm

@ Loren

The bigger question is does anyone actually enjoy movies like this and if so, just how low is their IQ.

Comment by Steve from New York — June 7, 2009 @ 5:23 am

this was just pretentious. this movie is a 7/10, easy. elitist trash.

Comment by matt cousens from boston — June 7, 2009 @ 1:22 pm

My favorite part of the movie was when the female cop said, “We see assholes like you every day. Every. Fucking. DAY.” Wanted to cheer. And I admit to being an Apatow fan.

Comment by Tricia — June 10, 2009 @ 3:16 pm

I’m not a reviewer. I’m not a prude. But this movie sucked. Too much that really wasn’t funny. Too much in your face crudeness. No characters, no plot line. Shock value does not make a movie good. Vulgarity after a while becomes tiresome. I want to be entertained not feel like I’m at the local trash dump looking for something to salvage.

Comment by What Happened from us — June 13, 2009 @ 2:08 pm

Comedy tastes are hard to account for and what is boring to one person may make another person laugh. But when you complain the movies use of “Dr. Faggot as a symptom of a larger cultural pathology” you expose your podium and ignore the use of dialogue in character development. That is how some people talk, that is how one character in the movie talks and his homophobic language is used to further establish him as an insensitive asshole. Which is important in making the plot of the film plausible.

If I had written the film maybe I would have left out that type of language (you obviously would have) to not encourage it but to use it as your closing analysis of the movie robs your review of credibility.

Comment by Mike from LA — June 16, 2009 @ 6:09 pm

I can see why The Hangover is of this summer’s biggest hits. First, it’s funny as hell. Any movie that can weave a baby, a missing tooth, and Mike Tyson into its plot is comedic gold. Second, the cast perfectly play off each other. Bradley Cooper’s sleazy outspoken Phil, The Office’s Ed Helms’s whipped but goodhearted Stu, Zach Galifanakis’s indescribable Alan and Justin Bartha as Doug, the Groom, pull off each gag (No matter how gross), insult and wisecrack with great comedic timing. Third, Director, Todd Philips and Screenwriters, John Lucus and Scott Moore used a different approach to tell a standard comedic story. They focus on the characters finding out what happened at the Bachelor Party instead of seeing their antics that night. Their reactions to their antics in scenes such as when Phil, Stu and Alan go to the hospital to find Doug or seeing themselves on Tyson’s security cameras are hilarious. I especially, enjoyed the twists and turns in the story such as what happened to Doug during the Bachelor Party. It was great to see some surprises in a comedy instead of the standard set-up the joke plotting. The Hangover’s success proves that not only do audiences want to laugh at the movies but also want to see well-made comedies.

Comment by BobsViews — July 13, 2009 @ 10:41 pm

Finally got around to seeing this film after reading several positive reviews. As someone else mentioned, there is no accounting for taste in comedy or anything else. I’m not bothered by vulgar material but I left the theatre feeling like I’d been hit with a sledgehammer numerous times. Kind of like, if you didn’t laugh at the joke the first time, I’ll tell it to you again, only louder. In other words, not much subtlety here. I didn’t find the characters very interesting and really didn’t care much about any of them. I suppose it’s no worse than most of the mindless “reality” programs on cable but it doesn’t break any new ground and will be thoroughly forgotten by this time next year.

Comment by Disappointed from Canada — July 18, 2009 @ 10:04 pm

Worst movie i have ever seen. I wanted to rip my own heart out just to stop the pain. The jokes are lame, the characters suck, and if I could have stuck a hot poker in my eyes and ears to get away i would have.

P.S. IT SUCKED!

Comment by Duncan from Olivet, MI — July 28, 2009 @ 7:46 am

“Paging Dr. Faggot” works as a joke due to Stu’s line that immediately precedes it.  I laughed not because Bradley Cooper said the word “faggot”... I laughed because he was interrupting Stu’s attempt to convince his wife that his friends were in fact quite “mature” once you get to know them a bit better.

I’m not saying that the people you saw the film with weren’t asleep during the line’s setup.  I’m saying that there was some context there, that we’re not just laughing at fag jokes because they’re fag jokes.

Comment by Garret — August 4, 2009 @ 6:29 pm