The Hangover

I think that perhaps this good, albeit far from excellent, comedy with an unoriginal concept didn’t appeal to me as much as it did to others because such nights out are a pretty common occurrence for me. (23/06/2009)

I can’t remember when was the last time I saw a film this funny. Brilliant! Edit: It’s a lot weaker after a second viewing. To my surprise (and memories from the first viewing notwithstanding), it’s not that brilliant. (20/08/2009)

Headache, watery stomach, vomiting, hitting kids, kids with tasers, erased memories, swearing, naked Asians, and photos! I have to go see it again to absorb all the jokes because I just couldn’t handle it the first time. You won't find anything more vulgar or funnier in the movie theater this year. Todd Phillips destroyed Kevin Smith in all his glory. (29/06/2009)

If it was just slightly more over the edge, a bit more incorrect (although, as I read the reviews here, that would probably be too much for some of the softies), it would stink like socks worn for a week. In this way, it sometimes smells like the cheap perfume of "normal" crazy comedy. Phillips excellently balanced a genre spectacle with a few really off the wall moments, which make this into quite a memorable film (particularly the singing numbers take the cake). I was not amazed by the film, but I also did not experience any peristaltic quivers or disgusting vomiting. A film for all the real men. (16/01/2010)

An absolutely authentic documentary about a hard “day after" that we all know so well. The initial twenty minutes could have happened during the opening credits, but I am willing to forgive the authors a lot for what goes on during the closing credits. Even that during all that explanation they somehow forgot the chicken. Or is that leaving a back door open for a sequel? (17/06/2009)

Really funny and daring! Apologies to all my fellow moviegoers, as they probably couldn't hear anything over my laughter. Luckily we have subtitles here though... and it was really great in the original language. That's not true of the Czech dub. For those times when you want to cackle, cackle, and cackle. (29/10/2010)

I laughed exactly five times during the film, which is not terrible because, with most of today's comedies, I usually feel like crying. Perhaps in no other genre do I feel that all the good stuff came before and that quality comedies experienced their golden era a few decades ago. And when I want to have a good laugh, I turn to the proven classics. Here, a bombastic budget or great special effects won't help because what is needed is inventiveness, taste, and preferably some screenwriting courage. However, today's major studio productions rely on proven models from the past, so they make remakes, which just lack the briskness of the original, or they make more and more loosely connected installments, which are just doing the same thing over again. The Hangover is fundamentally not bad, but this is the genre average for me and not a cult film with numerous enthusiastically bombastic reviews and five-star ratings. Perhaps people like it for its drinking theme. For myself, I can say that the biggest advantage I consider is that except for the one scene in the police lecture, the level of humor presented does not go below my taste threshold. Otherwise, it is nothing exceptional or original. Overall impression: 55%. Basically, it's a mishmash of putting together a gangster, Tyson, a tiger, and a newborn, and each person will find something in it for themselves. (14/05/2010)

A teenage comedy, but with adults instead of teenagers. For every good joke (and there are a few) there is a bad one, so the result, although it didn't particularly pissed me off, is just mediocre. (08/05/2021)

Genre genius Phillips got the absolute maximum out of the minimum. A silly premise of one big bender and the subsequent uncovering of its consequences was enhanced by the writers using seemingly unrelated gags and situations (as if they sometimes worked with an idea -> yeah, this is funny, let's cram it in) into a surprisingly cohesive and imaginative story that, if nothing else, doesn't bore, doesn't use overly raunchy or embarrassing humour, and finally pays such a sincere heartfelt tribute to alcohol that especially us Czechs and Slovaks have to nod in agreement and laugh. (19/11/2011)

The sequel didn't really impress me, but that was only because the authors took the system that worked in the first film and thought it would be enough to just change the setting. Instead of Vegas, they go to Bangkok. Believe me, this really isn't enough. The film should try just a little bit more than enticing viewers to the cinema for the same thing, just with slightly better - or worse? - design. "The Hangover" is a great idea. It's simply the first film that was original and, above all, funny. The film was based on the premise that a group of guys went to Vegas to have a bachelor party. One of them, the slightly more idiotic Alan, then does something completely unbelievable due to drugs. This is an unbelievable journey on a rollercoaster. It's a party that includes a tiger, a baby, missing teeth, and Mike Tyson. It's truly an incredible adventure that the heroes went through in order to ultimately save the wedding. The story is basically told as a flashback, as the characters reminisce about what they actually did. It works. The moments are humorous, thanks to the absurdity of what is happening. Although the whole group is great, attention is still drawn to Zach Galifianakis (yes, I am capable of writing and pronouncing that name without thinking too much about it). He's simply the right idiot, who may not be the best friend, but is fun in the film. "The Hangover" got me hooked, just to be settled back into the well-worn tracks of commercial silliness by "The Hangover Part II". More: http://www.filmovy-denik.cz/2012/06/nebezpecne-znamosti-jak-ztratit-kluka.html (21/02/2013)