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Review: The Hangover

Almost all the elements are familiar.

By PETER KEOUGH | June 2, 2009

2.0 Stars

VIDEO: The trailer for The Hangover

VIDEO: Peter Keough interviews Ed Helms.

The increasingly tiresome trend of raunchy comedies about bad male behavior finds nothing new to laugh about in Todd Phillips's retread of Old School (2003).

Almost all the elements are familiar. We have four stereotypical friends who drive to Vegas for a bachelor party: the regular-guy groom, Doug (Justin Bartha); the would-be hipster, Phil (Bradley Cooper); the nerdy worry wart, Stu (Ed Helms); and the freaky loser and brother-in-law-to-be, Alan (Zach Galifianakis).

In Vegas, they encounter the usual gags involving vomit, a naked man, a mystery baby, a trashed hotel room, a tiger, a guy Tasered in the nuts by a schoolgirl, and Mike Tyson. The gimmick: the next day the groom is gone, nobody can remember what happened, and they have to reconstruct everything.

It's Dude, Where's the Groom? Oh, and don't forget that comic stand-by: the suffocating women back home who are the reason for the trip in the first place.

Related: Review: The Hangover Part II, Review: Due Date, Interview: Zach Galifianakis, More

Topics: Reviews , Mike Tyson, Zach Galifianakis, Zach Galifianakis, More

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