The Hangover

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? (06/17/2009)

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. (05/14/2010)

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. (06/29/2009)

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. (11/19/2011)

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. (10/29/2010)