The Hangover Review – To a Night We Won’t Ever Forget

The Hangover a funny movie with a simple problem, and that’s what made it shine.

What Happens in The Hangover?

Phil, Stu, and Alan head to Las Vegas to have a bachelor party for their buddy Doug. After arriving, they unpack and hit Vegas HARD. The next morning Stu, Phil, and Alan all wake up not remembering what happened and they realize Dough is missing. So the three of them have to figure out what happened the night before so they can find Doug and get him back in time for his wedding.

Who Are The Characters in The Hangover?

The Hangover features four characters: Doug, the groom-to-be, Alan, Doug’s brother-in-law, Phil, the schoolteacher, and Stu, the dentist. Although Doug is to be married soon, he is actually absent for most of the movie. Alan is a loner, and until this bachelor party, he had no one.

Phil is a loud and slightly arrogant person. He wants to enjoy the bachelor party to its max. Stu is usually the level-headed one, until after the events of the night in Vegas, he sheds his shell and becomes a loose cannon.

The Hangover Review

The Hangover brings a type of comedy to the plate that nearly everyone, age-appropriate of course, will enjoy. It is a variety basket of comedy, and I think that is what makes it such a beloved movie. The characters are great, and the plot is just relatable enough to make this a great movie to watch with a group.

I think the best part about this plot is the way almost anyone can relate to the idea behind a little bit of a crazy night gone terribly wrong. The group is made up of 4 very different characters that play off of each other and no matter who your friends are, you are going to immediately associate at least one person with each of the characters.

The plot moves along quite quickly, and the largely unknown night is both a great source of comedy as well as a huge question mark. This uncertainty for almost the entire movie keeps your brain turning with What-ifs and hypotheses, all while being bombarded by comedic moments.

The characters are awesome for a whole variety of reasons. First, they are polar opposites in many ways, and this creates tension between them. Because they are all still friends, this tension results in humour instead of escalating into anger. The second thing that is arguably more impressive due to the genre and nature of this movie is the development.

We see two of our characters develop in a big way, to the point where they are not even close to the same character as the beginning. The writing and the character development in this one really impressed me. 

The only downside I see is the lack of screen time for Doug. He was a character that I felt had some really great potential, both in the moment and looking back on the night in question. The plot centres around him not being there, but I think it would have added maybe 5-10 minutes of hilarious scenes if we had gotten his point of view of both the night and the following events. Not a huge miss, but just a small piece that could have made this an even better movie.

The Hangover is great. It’s funny, it’s goofy, it’s well-written, and the story is great. It doesn’t fall into the comedy trap of losing the plot or characters for the comedy, and it makes me excited for the sequel. All in all, this is absolutely worth a watch, regardless of your taste in movies.