The Hangover (out 07 December)

Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Justin Bartha, Zack Galifianakis, Heather Graham, Ken Jeong, Mike Epps, Like Tyson, dir. Todd Philipps, 2009, cert. 15

Monkey score: 94%

What It's About

Doug (Justin Bartha) is getting married in a couple of days and to celebrate embarks on a trip to Vegas with his best friends Phil (Bradley Cooper) and Stu (Ed Helms) as well as weird soon-to-be brother-in-law Alan (Zach Galifianakis). Somehow the gang wake up in their suite with a chicken, no Doug , no recollection of what happened on the previous night and a tiger in the bathroom. Phil, Alan and Stu try to find Doug & discover what happened on the night.

What Movie Monkeys Thought

Stag weekend Vegas films are a dime a dozen yet The Hangover manages to be fresh and hilarious despite the pitfalls of the genre. Bradley Cooper (The Wedding Crashers) and Ed Helms (The Office U.S.) excel as the best men, but it is brother-in-law Alan played by Zach Galifianakis (Into The Wild, G-Force) who steals the show. All three main characters get to shine through great dialogues and more one-liners than you can shake a stick at, yet The Hangover is more than a collection of (very) clever lines. The Alan character is quite simply pure comedy genius and has a real diamond-in-the-rough quality that demands to be explored further - hopefully it won't be too long before The Hangover 2 reaches a big screen near you.    The Hangover is written exceptionally well and the deadpan performances serve some of the best one-liners we've heard in years, to perfection. Be warned that it may leave you quite sore from flexing your laughing muscles though!