Hotel Transylvania

Hotel Transylvania - Dir. Genndy Tartakovsky (2012)

This year saw the release of a trio of horror-themed animation films: ParaNorman, Frankenweenie, and Hotel Transylvania. Produced by Sony, Hotel Transylvania is the weakest of the bunch, but it was the most financially successful. Its strong box office run could certainly be attributed to the glossy computer animation whereas the other films were done stop-motion. While all three pictures dealt with themes of tolerance and death, Hotel Transylvania does so with a much gentler hand and doesn’t go to the darker places that Frankenweenie and ParaNorman did.

At the end of the 19^th century, Count Dracula (Adam Sandler) opens a luxurious hotel deep within the woods of Transylvania to serve as a sanctuary for his fellow monsters. More importantly, he sees it as a safe haven to raise his daughter Mavis (Selena Gomez) following the burning of his castle and the death of his wife at the hands of an angry mob. Over a hundred years later, Mavis is about to turn 118 and the Count is planning a gala birthday bash with all his best friends: Frankenstein (Kevin James), the Invisible Man (David Spade), The Mummy (Cee-Lo Green), and the Wayne the Wolf-Man (Steve Buscemi).

An American backpacker named Jonathan (Andy Samberg) inadvertently uncovers the secret location of Hotel Transylvania forcing Dracula to disguise him as a long-lost cousin of Frankenstein. However, Jonathan sparks a romance with Mavis as well as fueling her desires to finally leave the confines of her home.

Expectations were low for Hotel Transylvania considering Sandler has fallen further into self-parody as he slowly becomes the fictionalized version of himself in Funny People. Thoughts of That's My Boy floated in the air with the reuniting of Sandler and Andy Samberg. A script written by Peter Baynham (Borat) and TV Funhouse's Robert Smigel brings the distasteful fart jokes you'd come to expect from the Happy Madison camp. Somehow Hotel Transylvania manages to come together thanks to the direction of Genndy Tartakovsky of Dexter's Lab and Samurai Jack fame. Tartakovsky adopts the manic pacing of a Tex Avery cartoon and brings such energy to the picture you forget how flat a lot of the humor is. Steve Buscemi is a highlight as a sad sack werewolf worn down by his rambunctious litter of pups.

Hotel Transylvania may be too schmaltzy and saccharine for adults. The groan inducing song and dance number (complete with auto-tune) at the conclusion of the film will test your tolerance for cheese. However, the brightly colored animation and high energy are sure to entertain younger audiences.

Rating: ** (*****)

Dr. Seuss' The Lorax

Dr. Seuss' The Lorax - Dirs. Chris Renaud & Kyle Balda (2012)

"I am the Lorax, I speak for the trees. I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues."

The work of Dr. Seuss has captured the imaginations of countless children and will continue to do so for generations to come. The same cannot be said for the cinematic adaptations. Universal's live-action versions of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas and The Cat in the Hat are glaring blemishes to the legacy of the good doctor. The early cartoon versions had it right, keep things short and sweet. Seuss only needed ten or fifteen pages and a few sentences (in rhyme) to engage the reader. The filmmakers inject all the usual tropes like romantic subplots to pad the story out to feature length. This leads us to Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, the second of Seuss's creations to be adapted into a computer animated film. Fox's Blue Sky Studios previously released Horton Hears a Who! in 2008, but Universal and Illumination Entertainment are ones behind Lorax. Illumination debuted with Despicable Me, one of the best animated films of 2010. They stumbled with the live-action Hop, but don't get all the way back on track here.

The Lorax begins in Thneed-Ville, a walled community where the citizens live in the lap of luxury and prize their elaborate automobiles and parking lots. Everything is artificial in Thneed-Ville, the trees are battery operated and the flora is inflatable. The Mayor of Thneed-ville, Aloysius O'Hare (Rob Riggle) has become an extremely wealthy man by selling the townsfolk purified air delivered to their homes in bottles ala Arrowhead. Young Ted (Zac Efron) has a crush on the lovely Audrey (Taylor Swift), who yearns for the day when she might see a real, honest-to-goodness tree. Following the advice of his Grammy Norma (Betty White), Ted sneaks outside the walls of Thneed-ville and finds a barren and blackened wasteland. The only person living in the desolation is a strange hermit named the Once-Ler (Ed Helms), who relates his story to Ted.

Looking to make his fortune, the Once-Ler traveled to the lush valley that was teeming with swomee-swans, bar-ba-loots, and humming fish. What really catches the Once-Ler's eye are the truffula trees, topped with brightly colored tuffs of fur, which he needs to knit Thneeds, a multi-purpose sweater that everyone will need. Felling the first tree summons the Lorax (voiced perfectly by Danny DeVito), a diminutive orange creature with a bushy mustache. Serving as the protector of the forest, the Lorax pleads with the Once-Ler to leave the valley be. The Lorax's appeal for sanity falls on deaf ears as the Once-Ler builds an ominous factory to mass manufacture Thneeds and chops down every tree. Without trees, he can no longer produce Thneeds and his whole operation shuts down. Worse yet, the land has been rendered uninhabitable by the smog and pollution from the factory. The Once-Ler entrusts the last truffula seed to Ted in the hopes he can return the valley to its former glory. However, O'Hare will do anything to stop Ted from planting something that will give his customers air for free.

Conservative pundits have singled out The Lorax as part of a nebulous left-wing conspiracy to brainwash children into hating corporations and hugging trees. I'm speaking of pundits, specifically from Fox News, which is ironic considering Fox produced In Time, a movie with an overt pro-socialist message. Anyone capable of an iota of rational thought will see The Lorax as a film railing against unchecked excess. It's not subtle about it either. Not when the Once-Ler has a huge poster of himself emblazoned with the phrase, "Too big to fail." An opening musical number introduces life in Thneed-ville as the citizens laud their consumerist culture and blissful ignorance. Another number, "How Bad Can I Be?", sees the Once-Ler justifying his rampant greed and willful disdain of the environment as simple free market Darwinism. The songs themselves were composed by John Powell and co-writer Cinco Paul. They aren't memorable, but they are catchy and innocuous in a Disney Radio sort of way.

All this talk about liberal agendas overlooks the fact that The Lorax was produced by a major corporation in the most corporate of ways. The script rings hollow and feels like it was run through a wringer of focus groups right down to the casting of Teen Choice Award winners Zac Efron and Taylor Swift, plus Betty White as the sassy, snowboarding octogenarian. Also, I highly doubt Dr. Seuss ever envisioned the Lorax as a shill for General Electric, Mazda SUVs, and IHOP pancake combos.

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better…it's not."

Dr. Seuss' The Lorax doesn't come close to competing with Pixar. It's more diverting than thought provoking. The movie may not convince kids to plant a tree, but it will entertain them long enough with loud noises and bright shiny things.

Rating: ** (*****)

Big Miracle

Big Miracle - Dir. Ken Kwapis (2012)

Big Miracle is based on the 1989 non-fiction book, Freeing the Whales: How the Media Created the World's Greatest Non-Event by Tom Rose, which in turn was based on the real-life events surrounding Operation Breakthrough. In the previous year, three gray whales became trapped by ice near the coastal town of Point Barrow, Alaska. The story went viral before there ever was such a thing as news programs across the country picked it up. Universal's Big Miracle is the largely fictionalized version of the international efforts to rescue these poor creatures.

John Krasinski stars as Adam Carlson, a news reporter in Barrow with aspirations of moving on up to bigger markets in the lower 48 states. He's the first to report on a family of whales, who have been nicknamed Fred, Wilma, and Bamm Bamm. The baby isn't Pebbles because he's a boy, you see. The whales are surrounded by ice and will die if they don't get free. When everybody from Tom Brokaw to Dan Rather run Adam's story, Barrow is flooded with journalists and folks from all walks of life hoping to lend a hand. Most of them have their own selfish reasons for joining in.

Oil executive J.W. McGraw (Ted Danson), who sees the rescue as good P.R. and a gateway to open a wildlife refuge for drilling. White House aide Kelly Myers (Vinessa Shaw) looks to polish the legacy of the Reagan administration while building momentum for a run by Vice-President Bush. Both have tasked Col. Scott Boyer (Dermot Mulroney) of the National Guard to tow a hover barge from one of McGraw's stations via helicopter. Boyer is just following orders and doesn't care much about the whales, especially since they aren't killer whales. One of the few to contribute out of the goodness of her own heart is Rachel Kramer (Drew Barrymore), a Greenpeace activist and Adam's former girlfriend. Soon, the townsfolk, the people of the Inupiat tribe, and even the Russians form an unlikely alliance to save the trio of whales.

Big Miracle comes to us from director Ken Kwapis, who previously helmed the ensemble rom-com He's Just Not That Into You and the tween-lit adaptation The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, is used to juggling a myriad of storylines. He does so again to the detriment of Big Miracle, which is bogged down by too many superfluous subplots. There's a love triangle brewing between Adam, Rachel, and a big city reporter played by Kristen Bell as well as another love story involving Col. Boyer and Kelly Myers. Newcomer Ahmaogak Sweeney appears as an Inupiat boy named Nathan. His narration bookends the film, but he's a minor character at best.

Screenwriters Jack Amiel and Michael Berger have drawn their cast of characters in very broad strokes. Everyone is earnest and one-dimensional. John Krasinski fares the worst. The funnyman from The Office is a white bread bore as the lead protagonist. Ted Danson's oil exec seems as if he's mainly there as a counterpoint to the all the conservative pundits complaining about the portrayal of big business in films such as The Muppets and The Lorax. On the other hand, Drew Barrymore's Rachel represents all the worst of stereotypes of the granola munching eco-movement. She's a heartfelt firebrand, but also pedantic and myopic. She's more than willing to pain the Inupiat tribe as a bunch of whale slaughtering backwoods barbarians. According to the film, they're merely salt of the earth (or snow) people ready to dispense sage advice when necessary to plot advancement.

The true miracle of Big Miracle is the wealth of supporting actors that work diligently to keep the picture from completely sinking into the icy depths. Stephen Root plays the Alaskan governor, who is initially dismissive of the whale rescue until it captures the public eye. John Michael Higgins is funny as a smarmy anchorman. Rob Riggle and James LeGros are highlights as a pair of brothers from Minnesota, who arrive with a de-icing machine of their own invention. It's as if they made a wrong turn on their way to the set of Fargo. Also, be on the look out for Kathy Baker, Bruce Altman, Shea Whigham, Jonathan Slavin, and Tim Blake Nelson.

Big Miracle was released in February during the blasé months of the Hollywood release schedule where it earned a paltry $24.7 million worldwide. Perhaps, the world has grown too cynical for a simplistic, heartwarming tale. Is there anything miraculous to be found in Big Miracle? No, but it is wholesome, family-friendly entertainment.

Rating: * ½ (*****)

21 Jump Street

21 Jump Street - Dirs. Phil Lord & Chris Miller (2012)

21 Jump Street is an early contender for surprise hit of the year. Movies based on old television shows haven't had a winning percentage and 21 Jump Street had the potential to be another Starsky & Hutch or, worse yet, Car 54, Where Are You? Instead, it's a clever and uproarious spoof of action films and high school comedies.

Jonah Hill steps up from his usual role of comic relief sidekick to act as lead, producer, and co-writer with Michael Bacall, who penned Scott Pilgrim vs. The World with Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish. Hill plays Morton Schmidt, an awkward teen with braces, who could never get the girl in high school. He was also constantly bullied by Greg Jenko (Channing Tatum), the star football player, who was unable to attend prom because of his poor grades. They eventually reunite at the police academy where Schmidt's brains and Jenko's brawn make them a formidable combination.

Their dreams of being badass cops are quickly dashed when they are assigned to bike duty at the local park. An arrest of some seedy bikers turns into an embarrassment when Jenko fails to read the perp his Miranda rights. As punishment, they are transferred to 21 Jump Street where they are to go undercover at the high school as brothers to ferret out the supplier of a new drug known as H.F.S. (Holy Fucking Shit). Schmidt's smart and sensitive ways gets him into the cool crowd, who turn out to be the dealers, while Jenko's meathead manners get him stuck with the science geeks. Their mission is put in jeopardy as Schmidt becomes preoccupied with living the glory days he never had as a teenager.

Hill intended 21 Jump Street to be Bad Boys crossed with John Hughes and he succeeds on both accounts. The screenplay skewers the conventions of both genres. During a car chase, Schmidt and Jenko are repeatedly shocked that numerous objects they shoot at haven't exploded. They easily identify various high school cliques such as the nerds, the jocks, and the Goths, but others (hipsters, anime fans) completely puzzle them. The food chain of the 80's is turned upside-down as geeks have since inherited the Earth. The environmentally friendly, socially conscious kids are cool while the brutish alpha male jock is passé. The film is also rife with witty metatextual humor, such as one character remarking that the Jump Street program was brought back due to a lack of original ideas. A drama teacher (played by the very funny Chris Parnell) notes the school play has reached the end of the second act just as the movie itself as reached the end of the second act. Even the generic name of the setting, Metro City, leads into other background jokes, like a billboard simply saying, "Billboard."

The comedy is accentuated by co-directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who previously helmed Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and created the MTV series, Clone High with Bill Lawrence (Scrubs). Much like Pixar's Brad Bird did on Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Lord and Miller have made a strong live-action debut. Due to their animation roots, they are able to inject 21 Jump Street with a vibrant energy and loony sight gags, evidenced by the hallucinations Schmidt and Jenko experience while tripping out on H.F.S.

While the film has plenty profanity and gross-out situations, it actually has heart thanks to the growing friendship between Schmidt and Jenko. Hill and Tatum have excellent chemistry together, making their characters both entertaining and sympathetic. Tatum may not have strong dramatic skills, but he has a wealth of comedic talent. He manages to steal the funny away from Hill and gets some of the movie's best lines ("Fuck you, science.") There's also a sweet romance between Hill and Brie Larson, although, any potential statutory charges are never brought up. It is mentioned that Hill and Tatum look too old to be attending high school, but so do most of the other actors.

Speaking of which, the supporting performances are fantastic across the board. Dave Franco (James's younger brother) is appropriately douchey as the leader of the cool clique as is Rob Riggle as the track coach. Ellie Kemper gets some funny scenes as a teacher trying hard to hide her attraction to Jenko. Nick Offerman essentially reprises his role of Ron Swanson from Parks & Recreation as a police captain. His dry line readings contrast from the boisterous performance of Ice Cube as Jump Street's stereotypically angry captain ("Sometimes I get angry…so suck a dick.") Rye Rye and Dakota Johnson (daughter of Don Johnson & Melanie Griffith) appear as a rival undercover squad getting far better results. And, yes, there are cameos from original cast members like Holly Robinson Peete and Johnny Depp, but, sadly, not Richard Grieco. I won't spoil Depp's return as Tom Hanson, but it is easily the film's highlight.

21 Jump Street is a smartly written blend of lowbrow comedy and action with wry commentary on the hierarchies of modern high school.

Rating: *** ½ (*****)

Larry Crowne

Larry Crowne - Dir. Tom Hanks (2011)

Tom Hanks has earned his reputation as an all-around nice guy and one of the most likeable actors in Hollywood. Hanks brings every ounce of that likeability for Larry Crowne, which marks his second film as a director following his debut behind the camera with 1996's That Thing You Do!

Hanks stars as the titular Larry Crowne, a mid-level employee for U-Mart, a big-box retailer resembling Target. Larry enlisted in the Navy straight out of high school and never went to college. This lack of higher education is cited as the primary reason for his lack of promotion into upper management. Since he can no longer advance any further, U-Mart executives decide to fire him despite years of exemplar service.

Larry finds himself in an all too familiar situation as a divorced, middle-aged man who is now unemployed and saddled with a mortgage he can no longer afford. Left with few options, Larry decides to enroll in community college. Thus begins a series of life-changing events for our affable protagonist.

First, he trades in his gas-guzzling SUV for a sporty scooter and befriends the cute and free-spirited Talia (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), who renames him "Lance Corona" and recruits him into her scooter gang. She even gives Larry a makeover, giving him a new hairdo and ditching his dorky polo shirts for a hip leather jacket. Next, Larry signs up for a morning class on informal speaking taught by the disillusioned Mercedes Tainot (Julia Roberts). Not only has she lost her passion for academia, but she also deals with a husband (Bryan Cranston), who considers posting on internet message boards as creating a beachhead in new media. He also surfs for porn, but since this is a PG-13 movie, the women are fully clothed.

In addition to directing, producing, and starring in Larry Crowne, Tom Hanks co-wrote the script with Nia Vardalos, whose My Big Fat Greek Wedding was championed by Hanks and wife Rita Wilson. Vardalos has yet to recapture the same success and the middling response to the clichéd Larry Crowne won't change that. The way in which the film offers sitcom solutions to complex issues borders on condescension. Is a degree from a community college really going to protect someone from the economic downturn? I know people with Master's degrees who are still having a rough time in the job market. How does Larry Crowne still manage to stay afloat in Los Angeles while working as a part-time short order cook? Sometimes Crowne comes off more as a man going through a mid-life crisis when he's wearing a leather jacket and wallet chain.

Larry Crowne was released the same weekend as Transformers: Dark of the Moon. It certainly serves its purpose as counter-programming to the hordes of loud, effects heavy blockbusters. Hanks and Roberts (who gets more beautiful with age) have a winning chemistry together and there are some fun performances from Taraji P. Henson and Rami Malek as an annoyingly dim classmate. Without a doubt, the best thing in the movie is George Takei as an eccentric economics professor. The boisterous Takei steals every one of his scenes. I wouldn't want to see Larry Crowne 2, but I'd readily shell out twelve bucks to see a spin-off starring the former Mr. Sulu.

It's obvious Larry Crowne was meant as a soothing salve on the gaping wounds caused by the financial collapse with Hanks serving as a modern day Frank Capra or Preston Sturges. Sadly, Hanks is unable to capture the heart and wit of those cinematic masters. It is simply populist pabulum with a tone as affable and easy-going as its leading man.

Rating: ** (*****)

Going the Distance

Going the Distance - Dir. Nanette Burstein (2010)

Is there a genre more asinine than the modern romantic comedy? I don't have anything against the rom-com in general; I just have an aversion to the copious amounts of crap churned out by studio execs and filmmakers who seem to construct from a stock set of elements. Going the Distance attempts to change up the staid formula while still incorporating frequent clichés with an Apatow-style sense of lowbrow humor.

Justin Long is Garrett, a low-level talent scout for a rinky dink record label in New York City. He's just been dumped by his girlfriend (Leighton Meester) and decides to go out on the town with his buddies Box (Jason Sudeikis) and Dan (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's Charlie Day). He meets Erin (Drew Barrymore), an aspiring journalist, over a game of Centipede. She wants to keep the relationship light because she's only in the city temporarily as a summer intern for the fictional New York Sentinel. However, Garrett doesn’t want to end things so quickly even after Erin has takes a job in San Francisco. The young lovers attempt to make it work long distance via text messages, Skype, and a very awkward session of phone sex. The usual insecurities and frustrations begin creeping in to threaten their relationship.

Going the Distance is the first produced script by Geoff LaTulippe who wrote it after learning of producer Dave Neustadter's own long distance relationship. LaTulippe tries to address the poor economy with Erin and Garrett unable to scrap the funds to fly out to see each other while working in dying industries. The film also marks the first narrative picture from documentarian Nanette Burstein who directed The Kid Stays in the Picture and American Teen. For the most part, Burstein's direction is perfectly pedestrian though it didn't need to be anything more. Some shots during a dating montage do have a documentary feel turning the audience into mere observers.

Some think that real-life couples don't translate well to the screen, but Long and Barrymore have good chemistry together. Both play characters that are merely extensions of themselves and their previous characters, Long as the wise-cracking geek and Barrymore as the free-spirit. Christina Applegate brings the funny as Erin's overprotective sister with the understated and dry wit of Jim Gaffigan as her husband.

At the very least, Going the Distance avoids the usual contrivances that come up as setbacks. One's uptight, one's spontaneous. How will it ever work out? Yet, the movie is still cluttered with the ubiquitous detritus that comes with your average romantic comedy. There's the obligatory airport scene where the man rushes through the terminal to catch his lady love although, this one takes place at the end of the first act rather than the climax. Sudeikis and Day fulfill the roles of the protagonist's wacky best friends. The humor fails to elicit anything as slight as a chuckle or a smirk. There's a labored slapstick sequence involving Long at a tanning salon, a gag that was already done on Friends years ago. The film gets worse with a scene where Applegate picks pubic hair off her dining room table after a late-night session of sex by Erin & Garrett. Just when you think they couldn't sink any lower, here comes the Hitler joke.

Going the Distance is leaps and bounds above god-awful atrocities like The Ugly Truth and Did You Hear About the Morgans? thanks to a pair of likeable leads. But, it fails to place them in anything that is remotely interesting or humorous.

Rating: * ½

The Other Guys

The Other Guys - Dir. Adam McKay (2010)


Riggs and Murtaugh. Tango and Cash. Add Hoitz and Gamble to the buddy cop pantheon.

The Other Guys opens in true action film fashion with a rousing car chase through the streets of New York City as top cops, Danson (Dwayne Johnson) and Highsmith (Samuel L. Jackson), run down the perpetrators. A massive amount of property damage is done to bring in a few crooks possessing a miniscule amount of marijuana. Back at the station house, Danson and Highsmith are greeted with a hero’s welcome. None of the accolades are thrown the way of Terry Hoitz (Mark Wahlberg) and Allen Gamble (Will Ferrell). They don’t blow shit up, they don’t get the girls, nor do they make the big arrests.

Hoitz could be doing those things, if not for an embarrassing shooting mishap, which relegated him to desk duty. His partner, Gamble, is a forensic accountant who gleefully enjoys paperwork and has no desire to see any action in the field. While investigating a minor oversight in construction permits, Gamble and Hoitz uncover a Bernie Madoff-style plot by millionaire mogul David Ershon (Steve Coogan) to embezzle $32 billion.

The main cast also features Michael Keaton as the precinct captain who moonlights as the manager of a Bed Bath and Beyond, Eva Mendes as Gamble’s inexplicably hot wife, Ray Stevenson as an Australian mercenary, and an uncredited Anne Heche as a corrupt CEO employing Ershon.

The Other Guys is the fourth collaboration between director Adam McKay and Will Ferrell following Anchorman, Talladega Nights and Step Brothers. Other Guys isn’t as hilarious as the first two films, but it’s several notches above the somewhat crass Step Brothers. As a spoof of buddy cop films, it works better than Kevin Smith’s Cop Out. However, the genre has become such a self-parody of itself that McKay is simply beating a dead horse. Seeing Wahlberg in a slow-mo John Woo shootout isn’t as funny as it should be because the gag has been done to death.

Where the film excels is in the interactions between the lead actors. Wahlberg has given some terribly wooden performances recently in The Happening and The Lovely Bones. He’s better suited for action and comedy and he’s excellent as the hotheaded straight man. Ferrell’s idiot man-child routine wears thin so he wisely tones it down for Other Guys. There’s a slow burn for his character as they slowly reveal the darker side he’s hidden.

McKay tops it off with his own brand of absurdist humor displayed in many hysterical gags sprinkled throughout the film. Some of the funniest bits include: Coogan bribing our heroes with tickets to Jersey Boys, a run-in with a group of horny hobos led by a fellow named Dirty Mike (played by McKay himself), an ending credits sequence utilizing Powerpoint-style animation to explain Ponzi schemes and government bailouts, and Ferrell constantly being hit on by gorgeous women like Brooke Shields (wife of co-writer Chris Henchy).

Rating: ***

The Hangover

The Hangover - Dir. Todd Phillips (2009)

The Hangover is crude, low-brow and profane. It’s a film that signifies the continuing collapse of decency in society. And I loved nearly every minute of it. Todd Phillips, the director of Old School, returns to the theme of the man-child giving in to his rampaging id with hilarious results.

Doug (Justin Bartha) is about to get married and heads off to Vegas with his buddies for a one last night of debauchery. Doug’s pals include: Phil (Bradley Cooper), a married man and prep school teacher who obviously longs for his frat boy days; Stu (Ed Helms), a nerdy dentist trapped in an unhealthy a harpy named Melissa (played by Helms’ fellow Daily Show alumnus Rachael Harris); and Alan (Zach Galifianakis), his future brother-in-law. Alan is socially awkward and looking for acceptance within Doug’s circle of close friends. He’s practically a big baby which is never more evident than a scene where Galifianakis stands there in his tightie whities.

The quartet checks into a luxurious suite at Caesar’s Palace (at the cost of an obscene $4200 per night) before having a toast on the hotel’s roof. They wake up the next morning and have no memory of what’s happened since then. Their suite is trashed, Stu is missing a tooth, Doug is gone, and there’s a baby and a tiger. Oh, and they’ve been driving around in a stolen police car. What follows is a bumbling amateur detective story as the protagonists attempt to piece together their missing memories. Some of the highlights include Stu marrying a stripper played by Heather Graham (who never looked more gorgeous) and a memorable run-in with Mike Tyson. If you’ve seen the trailer then you know what I’m talking about.

The trailer got an uproarious reaction from audiences and no doubt spread word like wildfire. The Hangover did nearly $45 million on opening weekend and thus far has made over $200 million worldwide. The trailer was so good, you worry that it gave away all the best parts of the film. Galifianakis takes a taser to the face while Tyson sings along to “In the Air Tonight.” While memorable scenes, The Hangover still brings plenty of funny with outrageous situations. Galifianakis provides some of the film’s best one-liners due to his character’s child-like naiveté. Cooper is perfect in the role of the cocky pretty boy and Helms is excellent as the straight man, playing off wonderfully with his cast mates. Bartha is something of a non-entity since he disappears for much of the film, but it’s no big loss.

The first two-thirds of the film are great along with the photo montage during the end credits. Really, the film only sputters during the final act after most of the events of the last night have been revealed. Another misstep is Ken Jeong in a small role as a mobster who is both stereotypically Asian and stereotypically gay.

It’s hard to believe such an amusing film was written by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore, the team who also wrote the unfunny turds, Four Christmases and The Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. The Hangover won’t be to everyone’s taste, but I’ll rank it as one of the funniest movies of the year so far. There’s not much coming in the second half of 2009 that look like it’ll give Hangover a run for its money.

P.S. – If I pay eight bucks for a film, I demand to see both of Heather Graham’s boobs. Not just one.

Rating: *** 1/2