The Hangover (2009) is a comedy film directed by Todd Phillips (the maker of Old School and Starsky & Hutch). Four guys drive to Las Vegas for a bachelor party, and the bulk of the film deals with three of the friends (Ed Helms, Bradley Cooper, and Zack Galifinakis) trying to remember the events of the previous night while trying to track down the fourth - the groom - using clues they have on their person. Hilarity Ensues.The film won the Golden Globe Award for Best Picture (Musical or Comedy), making it the first live-action "pure" comedy — one that was not a musical or a comedy/drama — to win the award since 1993's Mrs. Doubtfire.In 2011 The Hangover: Part II was released; it follows the three members of "The Wolfpack" from the first film as they wake up from another crazy night - this time, in Bangkok. The status of this film was in doubt due to a Frivolous Lawsuit over the use of Mike Tyson's tattoo by Helms, but Warner Bros. successfully got the lawsuit dismissed, and the film opened as scheduled.In late 2012 it was announced that The Hangover: Part III would be released in 2013, scheduled for Memorial Day. The writers promise that it will be the end of the Hangover Trilogy, and has the Wolfpack make their way back to Vegas. This time, they're not just cleaning up their own mess, but trying to survive an angry rival of Chow's who wants them to find his enemy - or else.
The films include examples of:
Abuse Is Okay When It Is Female on Male: Subverted with Melissa, who is shrill and dominating over Stu, and has even beaten him twice over. When Stu actually calls her out on her unfair treatment, her reaction is along the lines of a "yeah, so what?" While it is Played for Laughs, she is acknowledged as unpleasant by the rest of the cast, and arguably the most pleasing aspect of the climax is Stu breaking up with her in a rather magnificent (yet slightly befuddled) manner.
Accidental Marriage: Because you can't have a party in Vegas without somebody taking a spontaneous trip down the aisle.
Artifact Title: It seems the third movie does not involve an eponymous hangover.
Animeland: When a naked, angry Asian man jumps out of the trunk of the car, Alan instantly tries to calm him down by saying that he hates Godzilla too.
If you pay attention to Chow's face, it can become a Crowning Moment of Funny: he leaves because he's just so confused by the Godzilla line.
Anywhere But Their Lips: Among the first clues that Stu's girl really isn't right for him is that she won't let him kiss her on the lips.
Apathetic Teacher: Phil pretty much doesn't give a rat's ass about the kids in his class.
When told in the sequel that he has no hair after it was shaved off the night before, his first instinct is to reach for his beard rather than his bald head.
Bedsheet Ladder: Off the side of the Bellagio in the third movie.
Black Comedy: "Hey Phil, look! [laughs heartily] He's jacking his little weenus!"
Phil chuckles before turning away, and Stu actually laughs out loud before putting on an "offended" face and telling Alan to knock it off.
Subverted in the second film, with Phil and Stu's initial reaction being along the lines of Dude, Not Funny! to Alan using a plastic bottle to simulate an erection, but when a monkey starts nibbling on it, everybody bursts out laughing.
Call Back: Phil's phone call to Tracy to tell her they've lost Doug gets one in the sequel.
Phil: It happened again.
Tracy: Seriously, what is wrong with you three?
When the guys wake up and realize that they had another wild night, their initial reactions provide several call backs to the waking up in the first film, such as Stu asking about his teeth after Phil and Alan's shocked reactions to his new tattoo; and Alan immediately being asked if he roofied them again; and once they realize Stu's future brother-in-law is missing, one of the first places they check for him is the roof.
Chow jumps out of an icebox and, once again, begins beating on the three guys in the sequel. Thankfully this time he is clothed.
The Cameo: Mike Tyson as himself. Also Carrot Top and Wayne Newton during the end credits photo montage.
Camp Gay/Camp Straight: Mr. Chow is a subversion, actually. He's been married to a woman for fifteen years.
The Cast Showoff: Ed Helms and his piano playing. And, in the sequel, his guitar playing.
Catch Phrase: Phil says "No shit it's X" often enough during the course of the movie for it to count as one.
Phil also says "No, this is good!" every time they remember something terrible from the night before. Stu eventually calls him on it.
Chekhov's Gun: Or his ring, in this case. As soon as the Holocaust ring is introduced, you know something is going to happen to it. Stu uses it when he gets married to a hooker.
Also, the "This Door Locks Behind You" sign on the door to the roof was a pretty obvious sign that somebody was getting locked up there at some point - though by the time they found Doug, it had long been forgotten.
Chew Toy: Phil is tased, clawed by the tiger, cracked across the face with a crowbar, is sitting on the side of the car which gets t-boned, and we never do find out how he ended up in hospital.
The end credits are the best clue. There was an altercation involving Wayne Newton.
Comedic Sociopath: Alan, particularly in the second film when he treats another character to roofalin with malice aforethought (and said character loses a finger under the influence).
Control Freak: Melissa. She checks Stu's credit card statements, beats him if he protests her abusive treatment, and calls to check on his location frequently.
Cool Car: You'll never see a finer example of a 1969 Mercedes-Benz convertible on film. Too bad they gradually smash the shit out of it as the movie goes on.
Country Matters: Phil refers to Melissa as "a cunt" in the sequel...not that we can blame him.
Subverted with Doug and Teddy in the first two films - the only danger they're in comes from it taking two days to find them in the isolated locations they're trapped in and not of any direct threats on their lives.
Played straight in the third film, as Doug is kidnapped and held hostage as incentive for the Wolfpack to track Chow down after he stole millions from John Goodman's character.
The Ditz: Jade plays this during Alan's second blackjack haul.
Phil: You know she beats him, right? Stu: Hey - that was...twice!And I was out of line.
Easily Forgiven: Alan in the second one. The Vegas incident can be attributed to his own ignorance rather than malice, but that excuse only works once. Not to mention they asked him if he did anything the second time, and he straight-up lied to them.
Alan's naked ass. When we thought it couldn't get any worse than that, a wrinkled, overweight old man gets a physical exam in front of the heroes, and we're subjected to a shot of his backside as well.
Even worse - his dick being sucked by an elderly woman in the credits.
Mr. Chow popping out of the trunk, totally naked, his already small penis obscured by a lion's-mane of pubic hair... which happens again in the sequel.
In the sequel, all the "girls" at the club turn out to be she-males, and while they prominently display breasts, they also have the male package down there. Then Stu finds out what he did with one of them the night before...
Fanservice: Phil waking up without a shirt on. Also when he wears that black suit.
Heather Graham whipping her tit out. Also all the naked women in the photos that play over the credits.
The numerous shots of women in their bikinis at the pool.
Filk Song: Stu turns Billy Joel's "Allentown" into "Alan Town" ("Well, we're living here in Alantown, and he's driven our lives into the ground...").
Fingore: Teddy loses a finger (all in good fun though, as he was playing five-finger fillet with a bowie knife and after severing the finger on a misaimed thrust the group plays with the detached digit).
Finish Him!: The male cop screams this while goading a kid to taser Alan.
Flanderization: Alan in the sequel. It's like they ramped up his random bouts of silly insanity to actual dangerous insanity.
Flat Character: Teddy from the sequel. He shares the same purpose that Doug did in the original, except Doug was at least given some sort of personality.
Nearly every female character as well. Most of them solely seem to exist as objects or to be total shrews to the main characters.
Foot Focus: The "hangover" portion of The Hangover opens with a tracking shot of a women's bare feet as she strolls out of the guy's trashed hotel room.
Funny Background Event: In the sequel, after Alan runs the speedboat aground and it eventually comes to a stop to the side of the wedding, he can be seen dropping the anchor on dry land.
Genre Savvy: When the guys go to retrieve their car from the impound Stu says "Ten to one odds the car is beat to shit! Like fucked up beyond all recognition" Inverted when the car turns out to be in perfect condition, though this changes later on
Hope Spot: When the three amigos win their $80,000 back and are celebrating that they'll now get Doug back. Then the trade happens...
In the sequel, Kingsley uses Teddy as insurance that the guys get Chow to complete their "business transaction". Then when the deal happens it turns out those guys don't actually have Ted, it was just a sting operation and Chow gets arrested.
Horrible Judge of Character: Alan. "The drug dealer who gave me roofies seemed like a real straight shooter!"
The drug dealer (a.k.a. "Black Doug"), turned out to actually be a pretty benevolent guy, but still...
How We Got Here: Pretty much the whole movie, after Phil calls Doug's fiance.
And again in the sequel.
Hypocritical Humor: Ambiguously Gay Mr. Chow referring to the heroes as "gayboys". Inverted when we find out that Chow in fact has a wife.
Not sure it counts. We saw him having sex with a fat woman during the credits photo montage.
Maybe because he didn't want someone going about with the same tattoo he has? Could be a shout out to the legal trouble that said tattoo caused in real life.
I Don't Like You and You Don't Like Me: Midway through the sequel, Stu's father-in-law-to-be says that he's never told Stu, but he doesn't like him. Stu sheepishly reponds that he already knew that.
It's not a purse, it's a satchel. Indiana Jones wears one.
Inverted later by Mr. Chow:
It's not a satchel! It's a purse!!
Also Stu calling himself a doctor when both Phil and the doctor who examined Phil tell him he's "really only a dentist."
"It was a bartender!"
And he didn't even cum inside her!
Instant-Win Condition: Despite all the terrible, terrible consequences of all their activities in Vegas, when the main characters find Doug and return him (mostly) on time to the wedding, that's it, conflict over.
Of course, they did blackmail the cops into letting them go without jailtime or any records (but not without hilarious results), Mike Tyson forgives them for the tiger incident, Jade acknowledges the marriage as stupid and allows Stu to leave, and the Triads/Yakuza/Whatever the Hell a Korean Mafia is Called only wanted the money.
They even ended up winning 80,000 dollars that Doug managed to hold on to.
That money probably went to cover the damage to the hotel room.
And the car.
And possibly an "I'm sorry" gift for Doug's new bride.
Just Keep Driving: When they are taking the tiger back to Mike Tyson's house and they hit the bus, then stop the car in the middle of the road. None of the other vehicles bother to stop.
Laser-Guided Karma: It's been revealed that Alan's constant abuse of roofalin will end with him in a mental hospital after the Once an Episode roofalin dosage for the Wolf Pack in the third film.
Living Prop: Stephanie, Phil's wife, has one line in each film and is never named on screen. This applies even more so in the sequel where she spends her brief screentime hovering silently at Phil's shoulder, and her one line comes amidst several characters speaking at the same time when Alan runs a speedboat aground and everyone is checking to make sure the guys are okay.
Lyrical Dissonance: Singing a rap song during a wedding? Fine. Maintaining its sexually explicit lyrics, f-word and all? Hilarious.
Made of Iron: All of them appear to be this. Alan takes a stun gun to the face, a crowbar to the face, and a Mike Tyson punch to the face, all within one day. Phil is tased in the crotch, attacked by Chow with a crowbar, clawed by a tiger and on the side of the car that gets T-Boned. Finally, Stu is tased in the neck, hit in the crotch with a crowbar and rips out his own tooth
In the sequel all three guys are repeatedly beaten with a long stick of bamboo by a monk, and Phil gets shot in the friggin' arm but manages to get by fine with a few $6 stitches. Made of iron, indeed.
Male Frontal Nudity: Mr. Chow in both movies, transgender strippers in the sequel.
Man Child/Psychopathic Man Child: Alan. While he's meek around adults he doesn't have any problem picking fights with children, which we hope is the reason he's not allowed near schools. He's also a Jonas Brothers fan.
Stu: Don't let the beard fool you, he's a child.
He did try to pick a fight with an old man for looking at his dad's car.
According to Word Of God, he just was caught hanging around a playground because he finds them fun, as per the trope below.
The sequel has a Flashback sequence from Alan's perspective - It turns out that he sees himself, Doug, Phil, Stu and Chow (and only those 5!) as children.
Mexican Standoff: Chow always ends up in one of these. He met his wife at one.
Noodle Incident: Oh so subverted. At first it looks like the events of last night couldn't ever be anything but this, but by the end of the movie, the characters have a pretty good idea of what they did, and it lives up.
But they never get to know where they found the chicken (a popular theory is that they tried to feed it to the tiger) or how the chair ended up on fire.
And it's never been explained why Alan can't be within 200 feet of an elementary school or a Chuck E. Cheese, though this could be because he picks fights with children (see Man Child above) - I hope.
"What are you talking about? I've found a baby before."
Zach Galifinakis says in the DVD commentary that Alan innocently tried to play with some children which of course looked suspicious to parents. It was all just a misunderstanding.
Alternatively, Alan did make an offhanded comment about getting caught masturbating on an airplane. Regardless of whether or not there were children around, that would get you registered as a sex offender, which in turn would keep you away from schools and other places kids frequent.
He never points out he was caught doing it, he points out that like card counting it's not illegal, just frowned upon. For Alan to believe this is not illegal, it possible he wasn't caught.
In the second film, the guys somehow managed to start a riot, which brought out the police and left part of Bangkok in ruins.
One Steve Limit: An important plot point is that there are two characters named Doug - a drug dealer who sold the roofies to Alan, and the lost groom. They wind up inadvertently rescuing the first Doug, who inspires a Eureka Moment, which leads to them finding Doug on the roof.
Only a Flesh Wound: Phil is shot in the arm. Only grazes him and leads to 8 stitches, but he makes sure to point out that had the bullet gone a little to the left, it would've killed him.
Stu would qualify if not for his tendency to completely flip out over (sometimes) minor things.
Ontological Mystery: Three friends wake up in a Vegas hotel room with serious hangovers and no memory of what happened last night. One of their friends is missing and there are signs of them having been involved in some kind of wild party. From there the rest of the film is about the trio investigating to figure out just what the hell happened.
Photo Montage: Happens during the credits of both films to show what happened during their respective nights.
Plot Armor: Among other things, how Doug survived spending 36 hours on the roof of a Vegas hotel without water and minimal shade.
How Teddy survived in an elevator for about the same time, with no food or water and a cut off finger
Teddy is completely understandable, people can survive over three days with no food or water. Doug, trapped outside in Las Vegas heat with no water, is harder to accept.
Plot Triggering Death: The third film starts with Alan going off his meds after his father passes away. His friends offer to take him to rehab, but the main story ambushes them en route.
Power Walk: The three get one when they are hitting the casino, put into a more comedic light.
Recycled in Bangkok: The Hangover: Part II - Phil, Stu, and Alan get hammered two days before Stu's wedding, somehow wind up in Bangkok, and lose Stu's fiancee's 16 year old brother in the process.
Red Herring: You'd really think that Alan's comment about not being allowed within 200 feet of schools or Chuck-E-Cheeses was going to come back to haunt them later in the movie.
Stu's missing tooth might count. It seemed like it would be just as much of a clue as all the other weird stuff they found, but it turns out it doesn't have any relevance to finding Doug, Stu just pulled it out himself for a dare.
Not mention when they hear the banging in the trunk.
Rule of Three: Director Todd Phillips has stated he'd be interested in making a third and final film, to round the series out as a trilogy. It's going to be set in Los Angeles.
Scandalgate: Mike Tyson's tattoo artist threatened to block the release of the sequel after he claimed copyright over the facial tattoo Stu gets in the movie; this was dubbed "Tattoogate" by the media. Had this been released before the lawsuit was filed, Tyson himself recommending that Stu remove his tattoo at the end of the film would really be a "Funny Aneurysm" Moment.
Sequel Goes Foreign: The Hangover: Part II takes place in Thailand and includes the characters lampshading the fact that the same circumstances happened in a foreign country.
Serial Escalation: Every time it looks like they've got a handle on what they did, something even worse makes itself known.
This is definitely in force for the sequel, with almost everything that occurs being something that happened in the first film ramped Up to Eleven.
Shaggy Dog Story: Nearly the entire movie, considering where Doug really was.
Subverted. Imagine how screwed up everything would have been if they had found Doug instantly and just left. Jade, the Koreans, Tyson, the cops... everyone would have been after them.
Played straighter in the sequel - Teddy was in the elevator on his way to get ice for his severed finger, when the power went out a minute after Phil and Alan woke up. If the trio had figured that out there and then before going back to the resort, they would've just needed to explain Stu's tattoo and get Teddy to a hospital, instead of getting dragged into Chow's dealings.
Sharp Dressed Man: Alan in the second film as the guys are walking through the airport.
Ship Sinking: The sequel killed off the Stu/Jade ship.
Sincerest Form of Flattery: By the end of the film, Alan's taken to mimicking Phil. When Phil realises this, as they wait for Stu so they can leave, his expression looks like a non-verbal Flat "What.".
Single Mom Stripper: Heather Graham's character has branched out into being a Single Mom Prostitute as well.
Skewed Priorities: Alan frequently has these, whether it's being offended by Stu using foul language or being forced at gunpoint to give up a monkey.
The Smurfette Principle: All three lead characters are male and most secondary characters with substantial screentime such Doug, Mr. Chou and Teddy are male too. The first film has more of a female presence since Jade (Heather Graham's character) gets a fairly big supporting role but her counterpart in the sequel appears in only one scene and the only other female characters with more than a couple of lines are Tracy and Lauren.
Star-Making Role: Basically all three leads. Zack Galifianakis got the most immediate attention; Bradley Cooper got equal billing with Liam Neeson in the film version of The A-Team; Ed Helms has a number of lead comic roles in production and received an increased role on The Office.
Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome: This happens to Alan's dad, Sid Garner, in the third film, courtesy of Alan giving him a heart attack when he hauls a giraffe onto a highway with his car, only to have it graphically decapitated by an overpass. This also ends up sending the entire plot into motion.
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: In the sequel, Lauren's (Stu's fiancee) father gives a speech at the rehearsal dinner that essentially amounts to him insulting Stu and comparing him to dull, flavourless rice. At the end of the film, Stu inverts this and gives a "The Reason I Don't Suck" Speech.
Stu also gives one of these to Melissa at the end of the first film, much to Phil's delight.
The Tyson Zone: In the sequel, the Trope Namer asks to see the photos of the Wolf Pack's wild night by saying "I'm Mike Tyson. Nothing surprises me." And he still reacts to the pictures with a cry of "Motherfuck!"
TV ads that ran the week the sequel was released featured heavily the "Time in a Bottle" elevator scene, so when Chow dies 30 minutes in, you're pretty sure it's not going to stick.
Viva Las Vegas: Trope Exemplar, but also Deconstructed since it shows the consequences of a night out on the town.
The Voiceless: The elderly man in the wheelchair in the second movie. At first they're confused as to why he doesn't speak, and why he's wearing Teddy's hoodie *
The hoodie was given to the monk by Teddy the previous night when they were rioting at a bar, prompting the police to fire teargas at them, so the elderly man wouldn't be subjected to it. Which also explains why he had all of Teddy's wallet contents on him, such as ID cards
, but then they learn he's a monk who has taken a vow of silence, and not even the other monks would be able to get him to speak.
Vomit Indiscretion Shot: Three of them, although one's a still photo during the end credits and another is in black and white so only one is really Squicky.
Wasn't That Fun?: After Alan almost navigates them into a semi truck on the freeway while they're driving to Vegas.
Alan: "That was awesome!"
Doug: "That was NOT awesome, what is wrong with you?!"
Mel Gibson was originally supposed to have a cameo in the sequel as a tattoo artist, but Word Of God states that this fell through after cast and crew objected to his involvement. The role then went to Cooper's The A-Team co-star Liam Neeson was then cast in the role, and the scene was filmed, until the scene required re-shooting with new expository dialogue after some editing. Neeson was unavailable for the reshoot due to scheduling conflicts, so the entire scene was shot with Nick Cassavetes in the role.
What Did I Do Last Night?: The main characters spend the whole movie trying to figure out the answer to this question. The answer? Everything you can do in Vegas, and then some.
And in Part II it happens again, but in Bangkok.
What Happened to the Mouse?: Some viewers were preoccupied the entire movie with just the mystery of the chickens (which is never really resolved), a very minor detail.
We also never truly find out what landed Phil in the hospital.
In the credits, he's slapped by the tiger.
We never find out where the sword stuck into the couch came from either.
In the theatrical edit, there's also the matter of the trashed Mercedes. The Unrated version adds a scene just before Alan finds the camera, which reveals the car is a wedding gift to Doug and Tracy from Tracy's parents.
Presumably they were able to pay to repair it with all the money they won in Vegas. Doug's father-in-law seemed like a cool guy. He was probably fine with what happened as long as they paid for repairs.
We never find out what happened to Jade, Stu's first wife. She disappears at the end of the first film and is barely mentioned in the sequel.
Stu was returning the following week to sign the divorce papers, and go on a real date. Presumably, things just didn't work out - Remember that Stu remarks near the beginning of the sequel that he's still seeing a psychiatrist because of what happened in Vegas.
Where It All Began: The guys finally find Doug on the hotel roof, where the whole night started.
In fact, they really had all the clues they needed within a few minutes of figuring out he was gone.-
Where Da White Women At??: During the credits in the guys' photos, Mike Tyson is seen in his bed sleeping with a white woman.
Word of Asexuality: Alan. (According to Director Todd Phillips, Alan will never get married, either.)
You Look Familiar: Bryan Callen played Eddie in the first film, and returned as the owner of the strip club featured in the sequel. Due to make up, the characters don't look the same, but sound the same.
You Say Tomato: Alan pronounces "ree-tard" as "rhe-taard". And in the sequel he pronounces "Thailand" as "Thigh-land".
0 reviews 
