The Hangover

The Hangover is a 2009 American comedy film directed by Todd Phillips, co-produced with Daniel Goldberg, and written by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore. It is the first installment in The Hangover trilogy. The film stars Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Heather Graham, Justin Bartha, Ken Jeong, and Jeffrey Tambor. It tells the story of Phil Wenneck, Stu Price, Alan Garner, and Doug Billings, who travel to Las Vegas for a bachelor party to celebrate Doug's impending marriage. However, Phil, Stu, and Alan wake up with Doug missing and no memory of the previous night's events, and must find the groom before the wedding can take place.

The Hangover was released on June 5, 2009, and was a critical and commercial success. The film became the tenth-highest-grossing film of 2009, with a worldwide gross of over $467 million. The film won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, and received multiple other accolades. It is the highest-grossing R-rated comedy ever in the United States at the time (before its sequel broke the record), surpassing a record previously held by Beverly Hills Cop for almost 25 years.

A sequel, The Hangover Part II, was released on May 26, 2011, and a third and final installment, The Hangover Part III, was released on May 23, 2013. While both were also box-office hits, neither were well-received.

Plot
Just two days before his marriage with Tracy Garner, Doug Billings, in the company of two friends: Phil Wenneck and Stu Price; and Tracy's odd brother, Alan, head out to party in Vegas. Driving his father's Mercedez, they rent a pricey villa at Caesar's and head for the rooftop to have a good time. Three of them later wake up with a hangover, unable to re-collect what exactly happened. With the villa in a wreck, they find that they have a baby in the closet; a grown tiger in the bathroom; Stu has a missing tooth and a hooker for a bride; and Doug is missing. Hilarious chaos results as the trio head out to re-trace their steps as well as try to locate Doug and bring him home in one piece before the wedding.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) The premise of a group of friends who go blackout after a bachelor party which ends in one of them missing right before his wedding is very interesting.
 * 2) Memorable performances from Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and, especially, Zach Galifianakis
 * 3) The chemistry between the 3 lead male actors is great and convincing.
 * 4) The soundtrack is pretty good.
 * 5) Extremely HILARIOUS scenes that will leave you laughing for hours.
 * 6) An unexpected and funny cameo from Mike Tyson.
 * 7) Good direction from Todd Phillips, the director of Old School and Joker.
 * 8) The secondary characters, including Ken Jeong as Chow and Mike Epps as Black Doug are fun to watch.
 * 9) A very well-written script.
 * 10) Plenty of memorable and funny quotes and lines, such as:
 * 11) *This isn't the real Caesars Palace, is it?
 * 12) *HEY THERE ARE SKITTLES IN THERE!
 * 13) *Tigers love pepper, they hate cinnamon.
 * 14) *Jesus, he's like a gremlin. Comes with instructions and shit.
 * 15) *Hey guys, you ready to let the dogs out?
 * 16) *You are literally too stupid to insult.
 * 17) *What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.
 * 18) *I didn't know they gave out rings at the Holocaust.
 * 19) *What do tigers dream of when they take their little tiger snooze?
 * 20) *Ew, Alan. Did you just eat sofa pizza?
 * 21) The blackjack scene is just awesome.
 * 22) The end credits showed a photo montage of the three leads the night before which was a pretty creative way to end the film.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) It's sequels weren't as good as this one.
 * 2) Stu's girlfriend Melissa (Rachael Harris) is incredibly unlikable.

Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film had gotten an approval rating of 78% based on 238 reviews and an average rating of 6.79/10.

Trivia

 * The success of the film helped increase tourism at Las Vegas.
 * Ed Helms, Bradley Cooper and Zach Galifinakis became real-life friends during filming.
 * Lindsay Lohan was offered the role of Jade but turned it down, saying the script "had no potential".
 * The Orange '95 Mitsubishi Eclipse seen in the film was put up for sale and auctioned off at Barrett-Jackson in 2019 (though the model year was incorrectly labeled as a '98).