Another male fantasy from the Todd Phillips stable about arrested thirty-somethings that basically boils down to "bros before hos," The Hangover is beset by an eye-rolling familiarity. The catch is that the film establishes this band of thirty-somethings as so damaged and ignorant that it's impossible to take them at face value. Doug (Justin Bartha) is getting married, and it's up to his three buddies--Alan (Zach Galifianakis), an incoherent burnout who, it's hinted, might be a sex offender/pedophile; Stu (Ed Helms), a pussywhipped dentist; and Phil (Bradley Cooper), a homophobic schoolteacher who steals from his students to finance the trip--to throw him a great bachelor party in Vegas. The morning after their wild night, their hotel room is in shambles, there's a tiger in the bathroom, a baby in the closet, and Doug is missing. As they attempt to piece together the events of the previous night, The Hangover appears to have something on its mind regarding the dangers of clinging to the wilful irresponsibility of youth, culminating in a wonderful scene featuring a pair of police officers (Rob Riggle and Cleo King) whooping with frat-boy excitement as they prompt grade-schoolers to tase our hapless heroes.

It's eventually revealed that our foursome was accidentally slipped some roofies before cavorting around Sin City--and, unfortunately, what should be the natural coup de grâce to this scenario only manages to massage School for Scoundrels' fear of rape by the evil Other. Killjoy women (like Stu's abusive girlfriend (Rachael Harris), whose parting words in the film are "suck my dick"), scary black dudes (like Mike Tyson, in what amounts to a retrospectively inappropriate cameo), and gays (like an effeminate Chinese gangster (Ken Jeong)) all threaten to fuck our boys one way or another, and it's through their interference that these man-children are inexplicably absolved of their sins. (Considering how the film presents Phil as a man who recoils at even the slightest suggestion of homosexuality, it's disappointing that The Hangover would go out of its way to validate his insecurities.) For the most part, it's an attempt at political incorrectness made disingenuous by loudly calling attention to itself. Still, the movie clicks whenever it directs that attention towards Galifianakis, who understands the earnest required for un-P.C. humor to work. (An abstract joke about the Holocaust is naturally in poor taste, but his oblivious delivery makes it killer.) Galifianakis is ultimately The Hangover's buoy in that regard, his outrageous non sequiturs spoken without the instant expectation for laughs we've come to recognize from guys like Will Ferrell. He can't quite save the movie from itself, but here's hoping we see more of him soon--and here's hoping that Hollywood doesn't sink its talons in him too deeply.-Ian Pugh (excerpted from a longer review found here)

The Hangover proper is casually stunning in 2.40:1, 1080p widescreen--indeed, this is the kind of movie that probably looks even more dynamic on the small screen for how well DP Lawrence Sher's crisp, colourful, high-contrast images adapt to HiDef. Grain structure is ultra-fine throughout. Lesser is the 5.1 Dolby TrueHD audio, which I had to turn up past reference level to hear comfortably. The mix itself, meanwhile, is steadfastly unimpressive in the typical comedy vein. Running 8 minutes more than the default theatrical cut, an unrated incarnation of The Hangover disappoints by containing very little that would threaten the original R rating as such; because they chose to call this longer version "unrated" as opposed to "extended," the addition of character beats throughout only ever feels like a bait-and-switch tactic. It occurs to me, however, that Doug and his bride-to-be barely have any screentime together except in the unrated cut, in which they at least say goodbye before he heads off to Vegas. Spots touting fanboyish Blu-rays, Digital Copy BDs, Terminator Salvation, Four Christmases, and Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes cue up on startup. (All bonus material is presented in HD, by the by.) A Digital Copy of the film is housed on a DVD inside the keepcase.-Bill Chambers

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