The Hangover (film)
Encyclopedia
The Hangover is a 2009 American comedy film
directed by Todd Phillips
and written by Jon Lucas
and Scott Moore
. The film stars Bradley Cooper
, Ed Helms
, Zach Galifianakis
, Heather Graham, Justin Bartha
and Jeffrey Tambor
. The Hangover tells the story of Phil Wenneck, Stu Price and Alan Garner, who travel to Las Vegas, Nevada
for a bachelor party to celebrate Doug Billings' impending marriage to Tracy Garner. However, after being drugged with roofies, Phil, Stu and Alan have no memory of the previous night's events and must find Doug before the wedding can occur.
Lucas and Moore wrote the script after executive producer Chris Bender's friend disappeared and had a large bill after being sent to a strip club. Lucas and Moore sold it to the studio for $2 million, Philips and Jeremy Garelick rewrote the script to include a tiger as well as a subplot involving a baby and a police cruiser, and also including boxer Mike Tyson
. Filming took place in Nevada for 15 days, and during filming, the three main actors established a friendship between them.
The Hangover was released on June 5, 2009, becoming a critical and commercial success. It became the tenth highest-grossing film of 2009, with a worldwide gross of over US$467 million. Critics praised the film's comedic approach but criticized it for its vulgarity. The film won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, and received multiple other accolades. A sequel, The Hangover Part II, was released in 2011.
for a bachelor party
, staying at Caesars Palace
.
The next morning, Phil, Stu and Alan awaken to find they have no memory of the previous night and Doug is nowhere to be found. Stu is missing a tooth, their hotel suite is in disarray, a tiger
is in their bathroom, and a baby is in the closet. They find Doug's mattress impaled on a statue outside of their hotel and when they ask for their Mercedes, the valet
delivers a police cruiser.
Following clues to their steps, the trio travel to a hospital where they discover they were drugged with rohypnol
, causing their memory loss, and that they came to the hospital from a chapel. At the chapel they learn that Stu married a stripper, Jade, despite having a long-term relationship with his mean-spirited girlfriend. Outside the chapel, the trio are attacked by gangsters saying they are looking for someone. They flee and visit Jade, discovering that she is the mother of the baby, before being arrested by the police.
Having been told that the Mercedes has been impounded, the trio is released when they volunteer to be targets for a taser
demonstration. While driving the Mercedes, they discover a naked man in the trunk who attacks them and flees. Alan confesses that he drugged their drinks to ensure they had a good night, thinking that they were ecstacy.
Returning to their villa, they find Mike Tyson
, who orders the trio to return the tiger to his mansion immediately. Stu drugs the tiger with the remaining roofies and they drive towards Tyson's home in the Mercedes, but the tiger attacks them and damages the car's interior. After pushing the car the rest of the way to avoid the tiger, Tyson shows the trio footage of them stealing the tiger to help them locate Doug. While driving, their car is struck by another vehicle intentionally; the passengers are revealed to be the gangsters from the chapel and their boss, Leslie Chow – the naked man from their trunk – who accuses the trio of stealing $80,000 of his money and kidnapping him. Chow says he has their "friend", threatening to kill him if his money is not returned. Unaware of the location of Chow's $80,000, Alan, with help from Stu and Jade, uses his knowledge of card counting
to win $82,400 playing Blackjack
. They meet with Chow and exchange the money, only to find that "Doug" is the drug dealer who inadvertently sold Alan the roofies.
With the wedding occurring in hours, Phil tells Tracy they cannot find Doug. Following a conversation with "Black Doug", Stu realizes where Doug is. The trio travel back to their hotel where they find Doug on the roof, moved there on his mattress while he was asleep, as a practical joke by Stu, Phil and Alan. Before leaving, Stu makes arrangements to meet with Jade the following week to pursue a relationship. With less than four hours before the wedding and with no flights available, the foursome race home, with Doug revealing he has possession of Chow's original $80,000. Despite their late arrival, Doug and Tracy are married and Stu breaks up with his girlfriend. As the reception ends, Alan finds Stu's digital camera detailing the events they cannot remember and the four agree to look at the pictures together before deleting the evidence of their exploits.
In October 2007, Jon Lucas and Scott Moore sold the original script of The Hangover to Warner Bros. for more than $2,000,000. The story was about three friends who lose the groom at his Las Vegas bachelor party and then must retrace their steps to figure out what happened.
The script was then rewritten by Jeremy Garelick and director Todd Phillips, who added Mike Tyson and his tiger, the baby, and the police cruiser. The Writers Guild of America
did not permit their work to be credited due to what Phillips described as an "insane" and "nebulous" set of rules.
Lindsay Lohan
was offered a role in the film. However, she turned it down, citing that the script "had no potential."
On a budget of $35 million, principal photography
took place in Nevada
for fifteen days.
Helms said filming The Hangover was more physically demanding than any other role he had done, and that he lost eight pounds while making the film. He said the most difficult day of shooting was the scene when Mr. Chow rams his car and attacks the main characters, which Helms said required many takes and was very painful, such as when a few of the punches and kicks accidentally landed and when his knees and shins were hurt while being pulled out of a window. The missing tooth was not created with prosthetics
or visual effects
, but is naturally occurring: Helms never had an adult incisor
grow, and got a dental implant as a teenager which was removed for filming.
Phillips tried to convince the actors to allow him to use a real Taser until Warner Bros. lawyers intervened.
Regarding the explicit shots in the final photo slide show in which his character is seen receiving fellatio
in an elevator, Galifianakis confirmed that a prosthesis was used for the scene, and that he had been more embarrassed than anyone else during the creation of the shot. "You would think that I wouldn't be the one who was embarrassed; I was extremely embarrassed. I really didn't even want it in there. I offered Todd's assistant a lot of money to convince him to take it out of the movie. I did. But it made it in there."
The scenes involving animals were filmed mostly with trained animals. Trainers and safety equipment were digitally removed from the final version. Some prop animals were used, such as when the tiger was hidden under a sheet and being moved on a baggage cart. Such efforts were given an "Outstanding" rating by the American Humane Association
for the monitoring and treatment of the animals.
. The film featured around 20 songs, consisting of music by Kanye West
, Dyslexic Speedreaders, Danzig
, The Donnas
, Usher
, Phil Collins
, The Belle Stars
, T.I.
, Wolfmother
and The Dan Band
, who tend to feature in Todd Phillips
films as the inappropriate, bad-mouthed wedding band. The Dan Band also has a version of the 50 Cent
hit single "Candy Shop
". Pro-skater and punk musician Mike Vallely was invited with his band, Revolution Mother, to write a song for the film and also makes a cameo as the high speed tuxedo delivery guy.
"Right Round
" by Flo Rida
is played over the closing credits. The film uses the Kanye West song "Can't Tell Me Nothing
" for which Zach Galifianakis made an alternative music video.
— the other major new release of the weekend — for first day take.
Although initial studio projections had the Disney
·Pixar
film Up
holding on to the number one slot for a second consecutive weekend, final revised figures, bolstered by a surprisingly strong Sunday showing, ultimately had The Hangover finishing first for the weekend, with $44,979,319 from 3,269 theaters, averaging $13,759 per venue, narrowly edging out Up for the top spot, and more than doubling the take of Land of the Lost, which finished third with $18.8 million.
The film beat even Warner Bros.' own expectations — which had anticipated it would finish third behind Up and Land of the Lost — benefiting from positive word-of-mouth
and critical praise, and a generally negative buzz for Land of the Lost. It stayed at the number one position in its second weekend grossing another $32,794,387, from 3,355 theaters for an average of $9,775 per venue, and bringing the 10-day amount to $104,768,489.
, it had grossed $277,322,503 in the United States and Canada, making more than six times its opening weekend, which only comprised 16.2 percent of its total domestic gross. It also made an additional $190,094,219 in international markets, for a total worldwide gross of $467,416,722, making it the sixth highest grossing film of 2009, in the U.S., the tenth highest grossing film of 2009 in the world
, as well as the highest-grossing R-rated comedy ever in the United States, surpassing a record previously held by Beverly Hills Cop
for almost 25 years.
Out of all R-rated films, it is the third highest grossing ever in the U.S., behind only The Passion of the Christ
and The Matrix Reloaded
. However, adjusted for inflation The Hangover earned less than half the total earned by Beverly Hills Cop and is out grossed by several comedies including Porky's
.
, Blu-ray
, and UMD
on December 15, 2009. There is a single disc theatrical version featuring both full and wide screen option (DVD only), as well as a wide screen two-disc unrated version of the film (DVD, Blu-ray, and UMD). The unrated version is approximately eight minutes longer than the theatrical version. The unrated version is on disc one and the theatrical version, digital copy, and the different featurettes are on disc two.
The Hangover beat Inglourious Basterds and G-Force
in first week DVD and Blu-ray sales, as well as rentals, selling more than 8.6 million units and making it the best selling comedy ever on DVD and Blu-ray, beating the previous record held by My Big Fat Greek Wedding
.
gave the film a score of 78% based on 216 reviews, with an average
score of 6.7/10, and awarded their "certified fresh" seal of approval.
At Metacritic
, which uses a normalized
rating system, the film earned a score of 73% based on 31 reviews.
Roger Ebert
of the Chicago Sun-Times
gave it three and a half stars out of four and praised the film for its funniness and comedic approach. A.O. Scott of The New York Times
praised Cooper, Helms and Galifianakis for their performances in the film as well as Todd Phillips for its direction. Scott later went on to say that the film is "safe as milk." Mick LaSalle
of the San Francisco Chronicle
also praised Phillips' direction. LaSalle also praised the film's comedic scenes and called it "the funniest movie so far this year [2009]." Betsy Sharkey of The Los Angeles Times praised the film for its perverseness. Sharkey also said that the film is "filled with moments as softhearted as they are crude, as forgiving as unforgivable." Although Joe Leydon
of Variety
criticized the film's trailers and TV-spots for its "beer-and-boobs, party-hearty farce", Leyton praised the film for its cleverness.
Conversely, Richard Corliss
of Time
said that "virtually every joke [in the film] either is visible long before it arrives or extends way past its expiration date" and added, "Whatever the other critics say, this is a bromance so primitive it's practically Bro-Magnon."
In his review in the Baltimore Sun, Michael Sragow
called the film a "foul mesh of cheap cleverness and vulgarity." Joe Neumaier of the Daily News gave the film out of 5 stars and noted, "Amusing as it is, it never feels real. That may not seem like a big deal — a lot of funny movies play by their own rules — except that The Hangover keeps doubling-down on the outlandishness."
Lindy Keffer of Plugged In Online
said it was "a movie about how much debauchery a handful of guys can commit — and forget — in one night. There's not much more to it than that." Family-oriented reviewers have harangued the film, noting that Galifianakis said he tried to forbid his own mother from seeing it and that he yells at parents of kids who tell him they like the film.
Many critics noted the weak character development, especially in its female characters. Ebert, despite his praise, stated, "I won't go so far as to describe it as a character study" but that the film is more than the sum of its parts – parts that may at first seem a little generic or clichéd, since many other films (such as Very Bad Things
) have already explored the idea of a weekend in Vegas gone wrong. Critics also complained about misogyny and stereotyping, in particular the Asian gangster.
The film's premise has several similarities to Dude, Where's My Car?
Both films are about "a couple guys waking up after a night of getting trashed, only to find they are missing something important", whose adventures include "a trail of clues, a missing car, dubious encounters with strippers and wild animals, a brush with the law and gangs chasing them for something they don't realise they have."
.
It was also named one of the top ten films of the year by the American Film Institute
.
The film won "Best Ensemble" from the Detroit Film Critics Society
.
The screenplay was nominated for a Writers Guild of America
and BAFTA award.
, Ed Helms
, Justin Bartha
, Zach Galifianakis
and Ken Jeong
returning. The film was released on May 26, 2011.
In May 2011, director Todd Phillips said that "there already are plans for a third film but no script or start date". About the possibility of a Hangover Part III, Phillips stated, "If we were to do a third one, if the audience, if the desire was there, I think we have a very clear idea where that would head. It's certainly not in the same template that you've seen these movies. The third would be very much a finale and an ending. The most I could say about it, what's in my head, and I haven't discussed it with these actors, is that it is not following that template but very much a new idea. As far as where it takes place, I said I'm very open." Also in May, Craig Mazin
, who co-wrote the The Hangover Part II, entered early talks to write the script for the third installment.
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
directed by Todd Phillips
Todd Phillips
Todd Phillips is an American screenwriter and film director. He is best known for directing the comedy films Road Trip, Old School, The Hangover, and Due Date.-Early life:...
and written by Jon Lucas
Jon Lucas
Jon Lucas is an American screenwriter. He is a graduate of Yale University as well as an alumnus of Pingry School. He wrote several 2009 films, including The Hangover and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past.-Film Credits:*2005: Rustin...
and Scott Moore
Scott Moore (screenwriter)
Scott Moore is an American screenwriter. He was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii and is an alumnus of Punahou School and the University of Colorado, Boulder. He is one of the writers of The Hangover, the highest grossing R-rated comedy of all time. He works with longtime writing partner Jon...
. The film stars Bradley Cooper
Bradley Cooper
Bradley Cooper is an American film, theater, and television actor. He is known for his roles in the films The Hangover, The A-Team, and Limitless. In 2011, People magazine named Cooper "Sexiest Man Alive".-Early life:...
, Ed Helms
Ed Helms
Edward Paul "Ed" Helms is an American actor and comedian known for his work as a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, as Andy Bernard on the US version of the sitcom/mockumentary The Office and for his role as Dr. Stu Price in The Hangover films.- Early life :Helms was born and raised...
, Zach Galifianakis
Zach Galifianakis
Zachary Knight "Zach" Galifianakis is an American stand-up comedian and actor known for his numerous film and television appearances including his own Comedy Central Presents special...
, Heather Graham, Justin Bartha
Justin Bartha
Justin Lee Bartha is an American actor, known for his co-starring role as Riley Poole in the National Treasure films and as Doug Billings in The Hangover and The Hangover Part II.-Early life:...
and Jeffrey Tambor
Jeffrey Tambor
Jeffrey Michael Tambor is an American actor, perhaps best known for his roles as George Bluth Sr. and Oscar Bluth on Arrested Development and Hank Kingsley on The Larry Sanders Show.-Early life:...
. The Hangover tells the story of Phil Wenneck, Stu Price and Alan Garner, who travel to Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
for a bachelor party to celebrate Doug Billings' impending marriage to Tracy Garner. However, after being drugged with roofies, Phil, Stu and Alan have no memory of the previous night's events and must find Doug before the wedding can occur.
Lucas and Moore wrote the script after executive producer Chris Bender's friend disappeared and had a large bill after being sent to a strip club. Lucas and Moore sold it to the studio for $2 million, Philips and Jeremy Garelick rewrote the script to include a tiger as well as a subplot involving a baby and a police cruiser, and also including boxer Mike Tyson
Mike Tyson
Michael Gerard "Mike" Tyson is a retired American boxer. Tyson is a former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world and holds the record as the youngest boxer to win the WBC, WBA and IBF world heavyweight titles, he was 20 years, 4 months and 22 days old...
. Filming took place in Nevada for 15 days, and during filming, the three main actors established a friendship between them.
The Hangover was released on June 5, 2009, becoming a critical and commercial success. It became the tenth highest-grossing film of 2009, with a worldwide gross of over US$467 million. Critics praised the film's comedic approach but criticized it for its vulgarity. The film won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, and received multiple other accolades. A sequel, The Hangover Part II, was released in 2011.
Plot
Celebrating his impending marriage to Tracy Garner, Doug Billings and his friends Phil Wenneck, Stuart "Stu" Price, and Tracy's brother Alan travel to Las VegasLas Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
for a bachelor party
Bachelor party
A bachelor party , also known as a stag party, stag night or stag do , a bull's party , or a buck's party or buck's night , is a party held for a man shortly before he enters marriage, to celebrate his "last night of freedom" or merely to spend...
, staying at Caesars Palace
Caesars Palace
Caesars Palace is a luxury hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, an unincorporated township in Clark County, Nevada, United States in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. Caesars Palace is owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment Corp....
.
The next morning, Phil, Stu and Alan awaken to find they have no memory of the previous night and Doug is nowhere to be found. Stu is missing a tooth, their hotel suite is in disarray, a tiger
Tiger
The tiger is the largest cat species, reaching a total body length of up to and weighing up to . Their most recognizable feature is a pattern of dark vertical stripes on reddish-orange fur with lighter underparts...
is in their bathroom, and a baby is in the closet. They find Doug's mattress impaled on a statue outside of their hotel and when they ask for their Mercedes, the valet
Valet parking
Valet parking is a parking service offered by some restaurants, stores, and other businesses, particularly in North America. In contrast to "self-parking", where customers find a parking space on their own, customers' vehicles are parked for them by a person called a valet...
delivers a police cruiser.
Following clues to their steps, the trio travel to a hospital where they discover they were drugged with rohypnol
Flunitrazepam
Flunitrazepam is marketed as a potent hypnotic, sedative, anticonvulsant, anxiolytic, amnestic, and skeletal muscle relaxant drug most commonly known as Rohypnol...
, causing their memory loss, and that they came to the hospital from a chapel. At the chapel they learn that Stu married a stripper, Jade, despite having a long-term relationship with his mean-spirited girlfriend. Outside the chapel, the trio are attacked by gangsters saying they are looking for someone. They flee and visit Jade, discovering that she is the mother of the baby, before being arrested by the police.
Having been told that the Mercedes has been impounded, the trio is released when they volunteer to be targets for a taser
Taser
A Taser is an electroshock weapon that uses electrical current to disrupt voluntary control of muscles. Its manufacturer, Taser International, calls the effects "neuromuscular incapacitation" and the devices' mechanism "Electro-Muscular Disruption technology"...
demonstration. While driving the Mercedes, they discover a naked man in the trunk who attacks them and flees. Alan confesses that he drugged their drinks to ensure they had a good night, thinking that they were ecstacy.
Returning to their villa, they find Mike Tyson
Mike Tyson
Michael Gerard "Mike" Tyson is a retired American boxer. Tyson is a former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world and holds the record as the youngest boxer to win the WBC, WBA and IBF world heavyweight titles, he was 20 years, 4 months and 22 days old...
, who orders the trio to return the tiger to his mansion immediately. Stu drugs the tiger with the remaining roofies and they drive towards Tyson's home in the Mercedes, but the tiger attacks them and damages the car's interior. After pushing the car the rest of the way to avoid the tiger, Tyson shows the trio footage of them stealing the tiger to help them locate Doug. While driving, their car is struck by another vehicle intentionally; the passengers are revealed to be the gangsters from the chapel and their boss, Leslie Chow – the naked man from their trunk – who accuses the trio of stealing $80,000 of his money and kidnapping him. Chow says he has their "friend", threatening to kill him if his money is not returned. Unaware of the location of Chow's $80,000, Alan, with help from Stu and Jade, uses his knowledge of card counting
Card counting
Card counting is a casino card game strategy used primarily in the blackjack family of casino games to determine whether the next hand is likely to give a probable advantage to the player or to the dealer. Card counters, also known as advantage players, attempt to decrease the inherent casino house...
to win $82,400 playing Blackjack
Blackjack
Blackjack, also known as Twenty-one or Vingt-et-un , is the most widely played casino banking game in the world...
. They meet with Chow and exchange the money, only to find that "Doug" is the drug dealer who inadvertently sold Alan the roofies.
With the wedding occurring in hours, Phil tells Tracy they cannot find Doug. Following a conversation with "Black Doug", Stu realizes where Doug is. The trio travel back to their hotel where they find Doug on the roof, moved there on his mattress while he was asleep, as a practical joke by Stu, Phil and Alan. Before leaving, Stu makes arrangements to meet with Jade the following week to pursue a relationship. With less than four hours before the wedding and with no flights available, the foursome race home, with Doug revealing he has possession of Chow's original $80,000. Despite their late arrival, Doug and Tracy are married and Stu breaks up with his girlfriend. As the reception ends, Alan finds Stu's digital camera detailing the events they cannot remember and the four agree to look at the pictures together before deleting the evidence of their exploits.
Cast
- Bradley CooperBradley CooperBradley Cooper is an American film, theater, and television actor. He is known for his roles in the films The Hangover, The A-Team, and Limitless. In 2011, People magazine named Cooper "Sexiest Man Alive".-Early life:...
as Phil Wenneck, a teacher. - Ed HelmsEd HelmsEdward Paul "Ed" Helms is an American actor and comedian known for his work as a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, as Andy Bernard on the US version of the sitcom/mockumentary The Office and for his role as Dr. Stu Price in The Hangover films.- Early life :Helms was born and raised...
as Dr. Stuart "Stu" Price, a dentist. - Zach GalifianakisZach GalifianakisZachary Knight "Zach" Galifianakis is an American stand-up comedian and actor known for his numerous film and television appearances including his own Comedy Central Presents special...
as Alan Garner, Doug's socially inept, future brother-in-law. - Justin BarthaJustin BarthaJustin Lee Bartha is an American actor, known for his co-starring role as Riley Poole in the National Treasure films and as Doug Billings in The Hangover and The Hangover Part II.-Early life:...
as Doug Billings, the groom. - Heather GrahamHeather GrahamHeather Joan Graham is an American actress. She has appeared in such films as Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, Lost in Space, Bowfinger, From Hell, Anger Management, and The Hangover...
as Jade, a stripper and escort. - Sasha BarreseSasha BarreseAlexandra "Sasha" Barrese is an American actress known for her roles in The Hangover and The Hangover Part II.-Early life:...
as Tracy Garner, the bride. - Jeffrey TamborJeffrey TamborJeffrey Michael Tambor is an American actor, perhaps best known for his roles as George Bluth Sr. and Oscar Bluth on Arrested Development and Hank Kingsley on The Larry Sanders Show.-Early life:...
as Sid Garner, Tracy's father. - Ken JeongKen JeongKendrick Kang-Joh "Ken" Jeong , also known as "Dr. Ken," is an American comedian, actor, and physician. Currently, he appears as Ben Chang on the NBC comedy series Community.-Early life and medical career:...
as Leslie Chow, a flamboyant gangster. - Mike EppsMike EppsMichael Elliot "Mike" Epps is an American stand-up comedian, actor, film producer, writer, singer, and rapper. He is best known for playing Day-Day Jones in Next Friday and the sequel-to-the-sequel, Friday After Next, and also starring alongside Ice Cube in All About the Benjamins...
as "Black Doug", a drug dealer who is mistaken for Doug. - Mike TysonMike TysonMichael Gerard "Mike" Tyson is a retired American boxer. Tyson is a former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world and holds the record as the youngest boxer to win the WBC, WBA and IBF world heavyweight titles, he was 20 years, 4 months and 22 days old...
as himself. Tyson originally disapproved of films. However, he changed his mind when found out that Todd Phillips directed Old SchoolOld School (film)Old School is a 2003 American comedy film released by DreamWorks SKG and directed by Todd Phillips, director of the documentary Frat House. The story was written by Court Crandall, and the film was written by Phillips and Scot Armstrong...
, which Tyson liked. Tyson later said that working on the film convinced him to change his lifestyle.
Cameos
- Todd PhillipsTodd PhillipsTodd Phillips is an American screenwriter and film director. He is best known for directing the comedy films Road Trip, Old School, The Hangover, and Due Date.-Early life:...
, the film's director, cameoed as Mr. Creepy, who appears briefly in an elevator. - Mike VallelyMike VallelyMike Vallely , also known as Mike V, is a professional skateboarder. Mike is also a musician, actor, television personality, stuntman, professional wrestler and FHL hockey player.-Early life:...
as Neeco, the high speed tuxedo delivery man. - Wayne NewtonWayne NewtonWayne Newton is an American singer and entertainer based in Las Vegas, Nevada. He performed over 30,000 solo shows in Las Vegas over a period of over 40 years, earning him the nicknames The Midnight Idol, Mr. Las Vegas and Mr. Entertainment...
as himself, in photo slide show. - Carrot TopCarrot TopScott Thompson , better known by his stage name Carrot Top, is an American comedian known for his bright red hair, prop comedy, and self-deprecating humor.-Early years:...
as himself, in photo slide show.
Production
Writing
The plot of The Hangover was inspired by a real event that happened to Tripp Vinson, a producer friend of The Hangover executive producer Chris Bender. Vinson had gone missing from his own Las Vegas bachelor party, blacking out and waking up "in a strip club being threatened with a very, very large bill [he] was supposed to pay".In October 2007, Jon Lucas and Scott Moore sold the original script of The Hangover to Warner Bros. for more than $2,000,000. The story was about three friends who lose the groom at his Las Vegas bachelor party and then must retrace their steps to figure out what happened.
The script was then rewritten by Jeremy Garelick and director Todd Phillips, who added Mike Tyson and his tiger, the baby, and the police cruiser. The Writers Guild of America
Writers Guild of America
The Writers Guild of America is a generic term referring to the joint efforts of two different US labor unions:* The Writers Guild of America, East , representing TV and film writers East of the Mississippi....
did not permit their work to be credited due to what Phillips described as an "insane" and "nebulous" set of rules.
Casting
Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, and Bradley Cooper were all casual acquaintances before The Hangover was filmed, which Helms said he believed helped in establishing a rapport and chemistry amongst their characters. Helms credited Phillips for "bringing together three guys who are really different, but really appreciate each other's humor and sensibilities." Helms also said the fact that the story of the three characters growing closer and bonding informed the friendship between the three actors: "As you spend 14 hours a day together for three months, you see a lot of sides of somebody. We went through the wringer together, and that shared experience really made us genuine buddies."Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan is an American actress, pop singer and model. She began her career as a child fashion model before making her motion picture debut in Disney's 1998 remake of The Parent Trap at the age of 11...
was offered a role in the film. However, she turned it down, citing that the script "had no potential."
Filming
Principal photography
thumb|300px|Film production on location in [[Newark, New Jersey]].Principal photography is the phase of film production in which the movie is filmed, with actors on set and cameras rolling, as distinct from pre-production and post-production....
took place in Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
for fifteen days.
Helms said filming The Hangover was more physically demanding than any other role he had done, and that he lost eight pounds while making the film. He said the most difficult day of shooting was the scene when Mr. Chow rams his car and attacks the main characters, which Helms said required many takes and was very painful, such as when a few of the punches and kicks accidentally landed and when his knees and shins were hurt while being pulled out of a window. The missing tooth was not created with prosthetics
Prosthesis
In medicine, a prosthesis, prosthetic, or prosthetic limb is an artificial device extension that replaces a missing body part. It is part of the field of biomechatronics, the science of using mechanical devices with human muscle, skeleton, and nervous systems to assist or enhance motor control...
or visual effects
Visual effects
Visual effects are the various processes by which imagery is created and/or manipulated outside the context of a live action shoot. Visual effects involve the integration of live-action footage and generated imagery to create environments which look realistic, but would be dangerous, costly, or...
, but is naturally occurring: Helms never had an adult incisor
Incisor
Incisors are the first kind of tooth in heterodont mammals. They are located in the premaxilla above and mandible below.-Function:...
grow, and got a dental implant as a teenager which was removed for filming.
Phillips tried to convince the actors to allow him to use a real Taser until Warner Bros. lawyers intervened.
Regarding the explicit shots in the final photo slide show in which his character is seen receiving fellatio
Fellatio
Fellatio is an act of oral stimulation of a male's penis by a sexual partner. It involves the stimulation of the penis by the use of the mouth, tongue, or throat. The person who performs fellatio can be referred to as the giving partner, and the other person is the receiving partner...
in an elevator, Galifianakis confirmed that a prosthesis was used for the scene, and that he had been more embarrassed than anyone else during the creation of the shot. "You would think that I wouldn't be the one who was embarrassed; I was extremely embarrassed. I really didn't even want it in there. I offered Todd's assistant a lot of money to convince him to take it out of the movie. I did. But it made it in there."
The scenes involving animals were filmed mostly with trained animals. Trainers and safety equipment were digitally removed from the final version. Some prop animals were used, such as when the tiger was hidden under a sheet and being moved on a baggage cart. Such efforts were given an "Outstanding" rating by the American Humane Association
American Humane Association
The American Humane Association is an organization founded in 1877 dedicated to the welfare of animals and children.The AHA's Film and Television Unit has monitored the welfare of animals during the production of films and television programs since 1940. They are the source of the familiar...
for the monitoring and treatment of the animals.
Music
The score for the film was composed by Christophe BeckChristophe Beck
Christophe Beck , also credited as Chris Beck, is a Canadian television and film score composer....
. The film featured around 20 songs, consisting of music by Kanye West
Kanye West
Kanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...
, Dyslexic Speedreaders, Danzig
Danzig (band)
Danzig is an American heavy metal band, formed in 1987 in Lodi, New Jersey. The band serves as a musical outlet for the singer/songwriter Glenn Danzig. Danzig can be seen as the third stage in Glenn Danzig's musical career, preceded by the horror punk bands The Misfits and Samhain...
, The Donnas
The Donnas
The Donnas are an American all-female rock band from Palo Alto, California. They draw inspiration from The Ramones, The Runaways, AC/DC, Bachman–Turner Overdrive and Kiss. Rolling Stone has stated that "the Donnas offer a guileless take on adolescent alienation; they traffic in kicks, not...
, Usher
Usher (entertainer)
Usher Terry Raymond IV , who performs under the mononym Usher, is an American singer-songwriter, and actor. He is considered around the world to be the reigning King of R&B. Usher rose to fame in the late 1990s with the release of his second album My Way, which spawned his first Billboard Hot 100...
, Phil Collins
Phil Collins
Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins, LVO is an English singer-songwriter, drummer, pianist and actor best known as a drummer and vocalist for British progressive rock group Genesis and as a solo artist....
, The Belle Stars
The Belle Stars
The Belle Stars were an all female British rock band, founded in London in 1980 by former members of the 2 Tone ska revival band, The Bodysnatchers.-Career:...
, T.I.
T.I.
Clifford Joseph Harris, Jr. , better known by his stage name T.I., is an American rap artist, film and music producer, actor and author. He is also the founder and co-chief executive officer of Grand Hustle Records....
, Wolfmother
Wolfmother
Wolfmother is an Australian rock band from Erskineville, Sydney. Formed in 2000, the group was originally a trio composed of vocalist and guitarist Andrew Stockdale, bassist and keyboardist Chris Ross and drummer Myles Heskett. Wolfmother released their self-titled debut album in October 2005,...
and The Dan Band
The Dan Band
The Dan Band is a comedy band from Los Angeles, California, created by actor/comedian Dan Finnerty.The band is well known for its covers of originally female-performed pop songs, with added obscenities and swearing...
, who tend to feature in Todd Phillips
Todd Phillips
Todd Phillips is an American screenwriter and film director. He is best known for directing the comedy films Road Trip, Old School, The Hangover, and Due Date.-Early life:...
films as the inappropriate, bad-mouthed wedding band. The Dan Band also has a version of the 50 Cent
50 Cent
Curtis James Jackson III , better known by his stage name 50 Cent, is an American rapper, entrepreneur, investor, record producer, and actor. He rose to fame with the release of his albums Get Rich or Die Tryin and The Massacre . Get Rich or Die Tryin has been certified eight times platinum by...
hit single "Candy Shop
Candy Shop
"Candy Shop" is the second single by rapper 50 Cent from his second commercial album The Massacre . It features R&B singer Olivia, and was written by 50 Cent....
". Pro-skater and punk musician Mike Vallely was invited with his band, Revolution Mother, to write a song for the film and also makes a cameo as the high speed tuxedo delivery guy.
"Right Round
Right Round
“Right Round” is a song performed by American rapper Flo Rida featuring pop singer Kesha from R.O.O.T.S., his second studio album. It was released to radio as the album's lead single on January 27, 2009 and was digitally released on February 10 by Poe Boy Entertainment and Atlantic Records...
" by Flo Rida
Flo Rida
Tramar Dillard , better known by his stage name Flo Rida , is an American rapper and singer-songwriter. He released his debut album, Mail on Sunday, in March 2008. His debut single "Low", featuring T-Pain, was a #1 hit for ten weeks in United States in early 2008. Two other singles resulted from...
is played over the closing credits. The film uses the Kanye West song "Can't Tell Me Nothing
Can't Tell Me Nothing
"Can't Tell Me Nothing" is a song by American hip hop artist Kanye West. It was released as the lead single of his third studio album, Graduation, on May 15, 2007. The song was produced by Kanye West and DJ Toomp...
" for which Zach Galifianakis made an alternative music video.
Track listing
Additional songs- "Who Let the Dogs Out?Who Let the Dogs Out?"Who Let the Dogs Out?" is a song written and originally recorded by Anslem Douglas for Trinidad and Tobago's Carnival season of 1998. It was heard and taped on a float by hairdresser Keith from the London salon Smile, who played it to Jonathan King, who recorded it and released it under the name...
" – Baha MenBaha MenThe Baha Men are Bahamian singers in a Bahamian band. They play a modernised style of Bahamian music called Junkanoo.-Early career as High Voltage :... - "Right RoundRight Round“Right Round” is a song performed by American rapper Flo Rida featuring pop singer Kesha from R.O.O.T.S., his second studio album. It was released to radio as the album's lead single on January 27, 2009 and was digitally released on February 10 by Poe Boy Entertainment and Atlantic Records...
" – Flo RidaFlo RidaTramar Dillard , better known by his stage name Flo Rida , is an American rapper and singer-songwriter. He released his debut album, Mail on Sunday, in March 2008. His debut single "Low", featuring T-Pain, was a #1 hit for ten weeks in United States in early 2008. Two other singles resulted from... - "Can't Tell Me NothingCan't Tell Me Nothing"Can't Tell Me Nothing" is a song by American hip hop artist Kanye West. It was released as the lead single of his third studio album, Graduation, on May 15, 2007. The song was produced by Kanye West and DJ Toomp...
" – Kanye WestKanye WestKanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and... - "Live Your LifeLive Your Life"Live Your Life" is a song by American rapper T.I., and the third single, from his sixth studio album Paper Trail. It was released as the third single from the album on September 23, 2008. The song features Barbadian pop singer Rihanna, and was produced by Just Blaze and Canei Finch. It officially...
" – T.I.T.I.Clifford Joseph Harris, Jr. , better known by his stage name T.I., is an American rap artist, film and music producer, actor and author. He is also the founder and co-chief executive officer of Grand Hustle Records....
featuring RihannaRihannaRobyn Rihanna Fenty , better known as simply Rihanna, is a Barbadian recording artist. Born in Saint Michael, Barbados, Rihanna moved to the United States at the age of 16 to pursue a recording career under the guidance of record producer Evan Rogers... - "What Do You Say" – Mickey AvalonMickey AvalonMickey Avalon is an American rapper from Hollywood, California. His debut self-titled solo album was released Nov. 7, 2006 on Interscope/Shoot to Kill Records in association with MySpace Records...
- "Yeah!Yeah! (Usher song)"Yeah!" is a song by American singer Usher, released on 3 February 2004 as the lead single from his hit fourth studio album Confessions. The song was written by Lil Jon, Sean Garrett, Patrick J. Que Smith, Ludacris, Robert McDowell, and LRoc. It was produced by Lil Jon, who combined crunk and R&B...
" – UsherUsher (entertainer)Usher Terry Raymond IV , who performs under the mononym Usher, is an American singer-songwriter, and actor. He is considered around the world to be the reigning King of R&B. Usher rose to fame in the late 1990s with the release of his second album My Way, which spawned his first Billboard Hot 100...
featuring LudacrisLudacrisChristopher Brian Bridges , better known by his stage name Ludacris, is an American rapper and actor. Along with his manager, Chaka Zulu, Ludacris is the co-founder of Disturbing tha Peace, an imprint distributed by Def Jam Recordings...
and Lil JonLil JonJonathan Mortimer Smith , better known by his stage name Lil Jon, is an American rapper, music producer, entrepreneur, and occasional disc jockey who was a member of the group Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz. Lil Jon formed the group in 1997, and the group released several albums between then and 2004... - "Joker & The ThiefJoker & the Thief"Joker & the Thief" is the sixth single from Australian band Wolfmother's debut album Wolfmother. It was released in Sydney, Australia on 28 October 2006 and in the United Kingdom on 20 November 2006...
" – WolfmotherWolfmotherWolfmother is an Australian rock band from Erskineville, Sydney. Formed in 2000, the group was originally a trio composed of vocalist and guitarist Andrew Stockdale, bassist and keyboardist Chris Ross and drummer Myles Heskett. Wolfmother released their self-titled debut album in October 2005,...
Box office
The Hangover proved to be a financial success. On its first day of release, the film drew $16,734,033 on approximately 4,500 screens at 3,269 sites, beating out the big budgeted Land of the LostLand of the Lost (film)
Land of the Lost is a 2009 American science-fiction comedy film directed by Brad Silberling and starring Will Ferrell, Danny McBride and Anna Friel, based on the 1974 Sid and Marty Krofft TV series of the same name.-Plot:...
— the other major new release of the weekend — for first day take.
Although initial studio projections had the Disney
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...
·Pixar
Pixar
Pixar Animation Studios, pronounced , is an American computer animation film studio based in Emeryville, California. The studio has earned 26 Academy Awards, seven Golden Globes, and three Grammy Awards, among many other awards and acknowledgments. Its films have made over $6.3 billion worldwide...
film Up
Up (2009 film)
Up is a 2009 American computer-animated comedy-adventure film produced by Pixar, distributed by Walt Disney Pictures and presented in Disney Digital 3-D. The film premiered on May 29, 2009 in North America and opened the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, becoming the first animated and 3D film...
holding on to the number one slot for a second consecutive weekend, final revised figures, bolstered by a surprisingly strong Sunday showing, ultimately had The Hangover finishing first for the weekend, with $44,979,319 from 3,269 theaters, averaging $13,759 per venue, narrowly edging out Up for the top spot, and more than doubling the take of Land of the Lost, which finished third with $18.8 million.
The film beat even Warner Bros.' own expectations — which had anticipated it would finish third behind Up and Land of the Lost — benefiting from positive word-of-mouth
Word of mouth
Word of mouth, or viva voce, is the passing of information from person to person by oral communication. Storytelling is the oldest form of word-of-mouth communication where one person tells others of something, whether a real event or something made up. Oral tradition is cultural material and...
and critical praise, and a generally negative buzz for Land of the Lost. It stayed at the number one position in its second weekend grossing another $32,794,387, from 3,355 theaters for an average of $9,775 per venue, and bringing the 10-day amount to $104,768,489.
, it had grossed $277,322,503 in the United States and Canada, making more than six times its opening weekend, which only comprised 16.2 percent of its total domestic gross. It also made an additional $190,094,219 in international markets, for a total worldwide gross of $467,416,722, making it the sixth highest grossing film of 2009, in the U.S., the tenth highest grossing film of 2009 in the world
2009 in film
The year 2009 saw the release of many films. Seven made the top 50 list of highest-grossing films, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that as of this year, their Best Picture category would consist of ten nominees, rather than five .- Highest-grossing films :Please note...
, as well as the highest-grossing R-rated comedy ever in the United States, surpassing a record previously held by Beverly Hills Cop
Beverly Hills Cop
Beverly Hills Cop is a 1984 American comedy-action film directed by Martin Brest and starring Eddie Murphy, Lisa Eilbacher, John Ashton, Judge Reinhold, and Ronny Cox...
for almost 25 years.
Out of all R-rated films, it is the third highest grossing ever in the U.S., behind only The Passion of the Christ
The Passion of the Christ
The Passion of the Christ is a 2004 American drama film directed by Mel Gibson and starring Jim Caviezel as Jesus. It depicts the Passion of Jesus largely according to the New Testament Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John...
and The Matrix Reloaded
The Matrix Reloaded
The Matrix Reloaded is a 2003 American science fiction film and the second installment in The Matrix trilogy, written and directed by the Wachowskis. It premiered on May 7, 2003, in Westwood, Los Angeles, California, and went on general release by Warner Bros. in North American theaters on May 15,...
. However, adjusted for inflation The Hangover earned less than half the total earned by Beverly Hills Cop and is out grossed by several comedies including Porky's
Porky's
Porky's is a 1982 comedy film about the escapades of teenagers at the fictional Angel Beach High School in Florida in 1954. It was released in the United States in 1982, and spawned two sequels: Porky's II: The Next Day and Porky's Revenge! and influenced many writers in the teen film genre...
.
Home media
The Hangover was released on DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
, Blu-ray
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
, and UMD
Universal Media Disc
The Universal Media Disc is an optical disc medium developed by Sony for use on their PlayStation Portable handheld gaming and multimedia platform...
on December 15, 2009. There is a single disc theatrical version featuring both full and wide screen option (DVD only), as well as a wide screen two-disc unrated version of the film (DVD, Blu-ray, and UMD). The unrated version is approximately eight minutes longer than the theatrical version. The unrated version is on disc one and the theatrical version, digital copy, and the different featurettes are on disc two.
The Hangover beat Inglourious Basterds and G-Force
G-Force (film)
G-Force is a 2009 spy-fi comedy film produced by Jerry Bruckheimer for Walt Disney Pictures in Disney Digital 3-D. Written by Cormac and Marianne Wibberley, the film is the directorial debut of Hoyt Yeatman, whose earlier work includes contributions in the area of visual effects...
in first week DVD and Blu-ray sales, as well as rentals, selling more than 8.6 million units and making it the best selling comedy ever on DVD and Blu-ray, beating the previous record held by My Big Fat Greek Wedding
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
My Big Fat Greek Wedding is a 2002 Canadian and American romantic comedy film written by and starring Nia Vardalos and directed by Joel Zwick. The film is centered on Fotoula "Toula" Portokalos , a middle class Greek American woman who falls in love with a non-Greek upper middle class "White...
.
Critical response
The film received generally positive reviews from film critics. Review aggregation website Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
gave the film a score of 78% based on 216 reviews, with an average
Weighted mean
The weighted mean is similar to an arithmetic mean , where instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others...
score of 6.7/10, and awarded their "certified fresh" seal of approval.
At Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which uses a normalized
Standard score
In statistics, a standard score indicates how many standard deviations an observation or datum is above or below the mean. It is a dimensionless quantity derived by subtracting the population mean from an individual raw score and then dividing the difference by the population standard deviation...
rating system, the film earned a score of 73% based on 31 reviews.
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
of the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
gave it three and a half stars out of four and praised the film for its funniness and comedic approach. A.O. Scott of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
praised Cooper, Helms and Galifianakis for their performances in the film as well as Todd Phillips for its direction. Scott later went on to say that the film is "safe as milk." Mick LaSalle
Mick LaSalle
Mick LaSalle is an American Mick LaSalle is an [[United States|American]] Mick LaSalle is an [[United States|American]] [[film reviewer] and the author of two books on pre-[[Motion Picture Production Code|Hays Code]] Hollywood...
of the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
also praised Phillips' direction. LaSalle also praised the film's comedic scenes and called it "the funniest movie so far this year [2009]." Betsy Sharkey of The Los Angeles Times praised the film for its perverseness. Sharkey also said that the film is "filled with moments as softhearted as they are crude, as forgiving as unforgivable." Although Joe Leydon
Joe Leydon
Joseph Patrick Michael "Joe" Leydon is an American film critic and historian. A critic and correspondent for Variety and a contributing writer for MovieMaker Magazine, he is the author of Joe Leydon's Guide to Essential Movies You Must See and a contributing critic for Leonard Maltin's Movie...
of Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
criticized the film's trailers and TV-spots for its "beer-and-boobs, party-hearty farce", Leyton praised the film for its cleverness.
Conversely, Richard Corliss
Richard Corliss
Richard Nelson Corliss is a writer for Time magazine who focuses on movies, with the occasional article on music or sports. Corliss is the former editor-in-chief of Film Comment...
of Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
said that "virtually every joke [in the film] either is visible long before it arrives or extends way past its expiration date" and added, "Whatever the other critics say, this is a bromance so primitive it's practically Bro-Magnon."
In his review in the Baltimore Sun, Michael Sragow
Michael Sragow
Michael Sragow is a film critic and columnist who has written for The Baltimore Sun, The New Times, The New Yorker , The Atlantic and salon.com...
called the film a "foul mesh of cheap cleverness and vulgarity." Joe Neumaier of the Daily News gave the film out of 5 stars and noted, "Amusing as it is, it never feels real. That may not seem like a big deal — a lot of funny movies play by their own rules — except that The Hangover keeps doubling-down on the outlandishness."
Lindy Keffer of Plugged In Online
Plugged In
Plugged In was a monthly magazine published by Focus on the Family. Its print version was discontinued and now it survives as a web site, Plugged In Online....
said it was "a movie about how much debauchery a handful of guys can commit — and forget — in one night. There's not much more to it than that." Family-oriented reviewers have harangued the film, noting that Galifianakis said he tried to forbid his own mother from seeing it and that he yells at parents of kids who tell him they like the film.
Many critics noted the weak character development, especially in its female characters. Ebert, despite his praise, stated, "I won't go so far as to describe it as a character study" but that the film is more than the sum of its parts – parts that may at first seem a little generic or clichéd, since many other films (such as Very Bad Things
Very Bad Things
Very Bad Things is a 1998 black comedy directed by Peter Berg, based on the book by Gene Brewer. It stars Jon Favreau, Cameron Diaz, Christian Slater, Jeremy Piven, Daniel Stern, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Leland Orser.-Plot:...
) have already explored the idea of a weekend in Vegas gone wrong. Critics also complained about misogyny and stereotyping, in particular the Asian gangster.
The film's premise has several similarities to Dude, Where's My Car?
Dude, Where's My Car?
Dude, Where's My Car? is a 2000 American stoner comedy film directed by Danny Leiner. The film stars Ashton Kutcher and Seann William Scott as two young men who find themselves wasted and forget where they parked their car....
Both films are about "a couple guys waking up after a night of getting trashed, only to find they are missing something important", whose adventures include "a trail of clues, a missing car, dubious encounters with strippers and wild animals, a brush with the law and gangs chasing them for something they don't realise they have."
Accolades
On January 17, 2010, The Hangover won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, beating out 500 Days of Summer500 Days of Summer
Days of Summer is a 2009 comedy drama film. It was written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, directed by Marc Webb, produced by Mark Waters, and stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel. The film employs a nonlinear narrative structure, with the story based upon its male protagonist...
.
It was also named one of the top ten films of the year by the American Film Institute
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
.
The film won "Best Ensemble" from the Detroit Film Critics Society
Detroit Film Critics Society
The Detroit Film Critics Society is a film critic organization in Detroit, Michigan, United States.-2007 Awards:The nominees for the Detroit Film Critics Society Awards 2007 were announced on 15 December and the winners were announced on 21 December 2007.-Best Actor:**George Clooney - Michael...
.
The screenplay was nominated for a Writers Guild of America
Writers Guild of America
The Writers Guild of America is a generic term referring to the joint efforts of two different US labor unions:* The Writers Guild of America, East , representing TV and film writers East of the Mississippi....
and BAFTA award.
| Award | Category | Recipient | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Cinema Editors Awards American Cinema Editors Awards 2009 The 60th American Cinema Editors Eddie Awards, which were presented on Sunday, February 14, 2010 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, honored the best editors in films and televisions of 2009.-Film:Best Edited Feature Film – Dramatic:... |
Best Edited Feature Film – Comedy or Musical | Debra Neil-Fisher | |
| American Film Institute Awards American Film Institute Awards 2009 The American Film Institute Awards 2009 honored the best 10 Movies and 10 Television Programs of the year.-Movies:*Coraline*The Hangover *The Messenger*Precious... |
Top 10 Movies | The Hangover | |
| Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards 2009 The 15th Critics' Choice Awards were presented on Friday, January 15, 2010 at the Hollywood Palladium to honour the finest achievements in 2009 film-making, on January 15, 2010 on VH1... |
Best Comedy Film | The Hangover | |
| British Academy Film Awards 63rd British Academy Film Awards The 63rd British Academy Film Awards, hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, took place on 21 February 2010 and honoured the best films of 2009. The Hurt Locker took home the most awards, receiving 6 BAFTAS... |
Best Original Screenplay | The Hangover | |
| Detroit Film Critics Society Detroit Film Critics Society The Detroit Film Critics Society is a film critic organization in Detroit, Michigan, United States.-2007 Awards:The nominees for the Detroit Film Critics Society Awards 2007 were announced on 15 December and the winners were announced on 21 December 2007.-Best Actor:**George Clooney - Michael... |
Best Ensemble | The Hangover | |
| Empire Awards Empire Awards 2010 The 15th Empire Awards , honoring the best in film in 2009, were held on March 28, 2010 at the Grosvenor House Hotel and hosted by Dara Ó Briain. Below is a complete list of nominees and winners... |
Best Comedy | The Hangover | |
| Golden Globe Awards 67th Golden Globe Awards The 67th Golden Globe Awards was telecasted live from the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California on Sunday, January 17, 2010 by NBC, from 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM and 8:00PM – 11:00 PM . The ceremonies were hosted by Ricky Gervais, and were broadcast live for the first time.Nominations were... |
Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy | The Hangover | |
| Houston Film Critics Society Awards Houston Film Critics Society Awards 2009 The 3rd Houston Film Critics Society Awards nominations were announced on the December 17, 2009. The 2009 awards were given out at a ceremony held at the Museum of Fine Arts on December 19, 2009... |
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role | Zach Galifianakis Zach Galifianakis Zachary Knight "Zach" Galifianakis is an American stand-up comedian and actor known for his numerous film and television appearances including his own Comedy Central Presents special... |
|
| MTV Movie Awards 2010 MTV Movie Awards The 2010 MTV Movie Awards was the 19th annual ceremony which took place on June 6, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. Aziz Ansari served as a host for the 19th annual ceremony. Voting the nominees began from a list of eligible contestants on March 29, 2010, and ended on April 9, 2010... |
Best Movie MTV Movie Award for Best Movie This is a following list of the MTV Movie Award winners and nominees for Best Movie.-References:... |
The Hangover | |
| MTV Movie Awards 2010 MTV Movie Awards The 2010 MTV Movie Awards was the 19th annual ceremony which took place on June 6, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. Aziz Ansari served as a host for the 19th annual ceremony. Voting the nominees began from a list of eligible contestants on March 29, 2010, and ended on April 9, 2010... |
Best Breakthrough Performance MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance This is a following list of the MTV Movie Award winners and nominees for Best Breakthrough Performance. In many years, the awards were split into Male and Female categories... |
Zach Galifianakis | |
| MTV Movie Awards 2010 MTV Movie Awards The 2010 MTV Movie Awards was the 19th annual ceremony which took place on June 6, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. Aziz Ansari served as a host for the 19th annual ceremony. Voting the nominees began from a list of eligible contestants on March 29, 2010, and ended on April 9, 2010... |
Best Villain MTV Movie Award for Best Villain This is a following list of the MTV Movie Award winners and nominees for Best Villain.-References:... |
Ken Jeong Ken Jeong Kendrick Kang-Joh "Ken" Jeong , also known as "Dr. Ken," is an American comedian, actor, and physician. Currently, he appears as Ben Chang on the NBC comedy series Community.-Early life and medical career:... |
|
| MTV Movie Awards 2010 MTV Movie Awards The 2010 MTV Movie Awards was the 19th annual ceremony which took place on June 6, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. Aziz Ansari served as a host for the 19th annual ceremony. Voting the nominees began from a list of eligible contestants on March 29, 2010, and ended on April 9, 2010... |
Best Comedic Performance MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance This is a following list of the MTV Movie Award winners and nominees for Best Comedic Performance.-References:... |
Zach Galifianakis | |
| MTV Movie Awards 2010 MTV Movie Awards The 2010 MTV Movie Awards was the 19th annual ceremony which took place on June 6, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. Aziz Ansari served as a host for the 19th annual ceremony. Voting the nominees began from a list of eligible contestants on March 29, 2010, and ended on April 9, 2010... |
Best Comedic Performance MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance This is a following list of the MTV Movie Award winners and nominees for Best Comedic Performance.-References:... |
Bradley Cooper Bradley Cooper Bradley Cooper is an American film, theater, and television actor. He is known for his roles in the films The Hangover, The A-Team, and Limitless. In 2011, People magazine named Cooper "Sexiest Man Alive".-Early life:... |
|
| MTV Movie Awards 2010 MTV Movie Awards The 2010 MTV Movie Awards was the 19th annual ceremony which took place on June 6, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. Aziz Ansari served as a host for the 19th annual ceremony. Voting the nominees began from a list of eligible contestants on March 29, 2010, and ended on April 9, 2010... |
Best WTF Moment MTV Movie Award for Best WTF Moment This is a following list of the MTV Movie Award winners and nominees for Best WTF Moment. It was first awarded in 2009. In 2011, it was renamed Best Jaw Dropping Moment.-2009:*Peeing in the Sink – Amy Poehler ... |
Ken Jeong | |
| People's Choice Awards 36th People's Choice Awards The 36th People's Choice Awards, honoring the best in popular culture for 2009, was held on January 6, 2010 at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California, and was broadcasted on CBS. Not all of the awards were presented on air during the show, as many including Favorite Movie were left out... |
Favorite Comedy Movie | The Hangover | |
| People's Choice Awards 36th People's Choice Awards The 36th People's Choice Awards, honoring the best in popular culture for 2009, was held on January 6, 2010 at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California, and was broadcasted on CBS. Not all of the awards were presented on air during the show, as many including Favorite Movie were left out... |
Favorite Movie | The Hangover | |
| Satellite Awards Satellite Awards 2009 The 2009 Satellite Awards, honoring the year's outstanding performers, films, television shows, DVDs, and interactive media, were presented by the International Press Academy at the InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles on Sunday, December 20, 2009... |
Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy | Bradley Cooper | |
| Spike Guys' Choice Awards Spike Guys' Choice Awards The Spike Guys' Choice Awards is an awards show produced by the Viacom cable channel Spike and held since 2007. It is patterned after Viacom's MTV Movie Awards... |
Guy Movie of the Year | The Hangover | |
| St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Awards St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Awards 2009 The 6th St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Awards were announced on the 15 December and given on 21 December 2009.-Best Actor:**George Clooney – Up in the Air*Jeff Bridges – Crazy Heart... |
Best Comedy | The Hangover | |
| Writers Guild of America Awards Writers Guild of America Awards 2009 The 62nd Writers Guild of America Awards honored the best film, television, and videogame writers of 2009. Winners were announced on February 20, 2010.-Best Adapted Screenplay:*Crazy Heart*Julie & Julia... |
Best Original Screenplay | The Hangover |
Sequels
Principal photography of The Hangover Part II began in October 2010, with Bradley CooperBradley Cooper
Bradley Cooper is an American film, theater, and television actor. He is known for his roles in the films The Hangover, The A-Team, and Limitless. In 2011, People magazine named Cooper "Sexiest Man Alive".-Early life:...
, Ed Helms
Ed Helms
Edward Paul "Ed" Helms is an American actor and comedian known for his work as a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, as Andy Bernard on the US version of the sitcom/mockumentary The Office and for his role as Dr. Stu Price in The Hangover films.- Early life :Helms was born and raised...
, Justin Bartha
Justin Bartha
Justin Lee Bartha is an American actor, known for his co-starring role as Riley Poole in the National Treasure films and as Doug Billings in The Hangover and The Hangover Part II.-Early life:...
, Zach Galifianakis
Zach Galifianakis
Zachary Knight "Zach" Galifianakis is an American stand-up comedian and actor known for his numerous film and television appearances including his own Comedy Central Presents special...
and Ken Jeong
Ken Jeong
Kendrick Kang-Joh "Ken" Jeong , also known as "Dr. Ken," is an American comedian, actor, and physician. Currently, he appears as Ben Chang on the NBC comedy series Community.-Early life and medical career:...
returning. The film was released on May 26, 2011.
In May 2011, director Todd Phillips said that "there already are plans for a third film but no script or start date". About the possibility of a Hangover Part III, Phillips stated, "If we were to do a third one, if the audience, if the desire was there, I think we have a very clear idea where that would head. It's certainly not in the same template that you've seen these movies. The third would be very much a finale and an ending. The most I could say about it, what's in my head, and I haven't discussed it with these actors, is that it is not following that template but very much a new idea. As far as where it takes place, I said I'm very open." Also in May, Craig Mazin
Craig Mazin
Craig Mazin is an American screenwriter and director.Mazin was born in Brooklyn, New York, and moved to Marlboro Township, New Jersey when he was a teen and attended Freehold High School which inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 2010. He graduated magna cum laude with a degree in psychology from...
, who co-wrote the The Hangover Part II, entered early talks to write the script for the third installment.