Directed by: Todd Phillips
Starring: Justin Bartha, Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, Heather Graham, Ed Helms
Rating: R

From left, Zach Galifianakis, Bradley Cooper, and Ed Helms deal with a misplaced baby in The Hangover. (Courtesy photo)

The enjoyably filthy comedy The Hangover is an emphatic return to the glory days of raunchy, male-driven, no-understanding-of-women comedies. And it probably out-shocks them all.

No wonder The Hangover has become the surprise hit of the summer. It’s an inexcusably funny disaster comedy. It’s a bit of a surprise that it’s doing so well with this cast of sort-of-knowns, until you remember that it was director Todd Phillips who turned perennial back-ups Vince Vaughn and Will Ferrell into stars six years ago with Old School. Now he may have pulled off the same trick for Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, and Zach Galifianakis. Who? Exactly.

Phil, Stu, and Allan are taking Doug on his bachelor party in Las Vegas. Phil (Cooper) is the cocky ex-stud who’s now a married schoolteacher. Stu (Helms) is the hen-pecked dentist desperate to escape his girlfriend. Allan (Galifianakis) is the sweetly deranged future brother-in-law. The groom, Doug (Justin Bartha), is clearly the only one with a level head, which is why it’s all the more frightening when they wake up the next morning and he’s gone. Also, their hotel room is completely trashed. And there’s a chicken wandering through it. And a tiger in the bathroom. And no one remembers a thing. What follows is a 24-hour mystery for morons, as the three try to piece together their night and find their friend in time to get him back to Los Angeles for the wedding.

This is truly, as the credits say, “a Todd Phillips movie.” And by the way, good for Phillips to properly identify the difference between a movie and a film—Brett Ratner take note. The Hangover proves that there are indeed certain identifying traits in a Todd Phillips movie. Yes, they’re more crass and less emotionally sophisticated than the Apatow canon. But they also tend to get admirably risky with how hard they’ll push a serious moment into the comedy category. And Phillips clearly likes to gamble on how much ugly behavior we’re willing to take from our protagonists. Sometimes it doesn’t work—I thought the so-called heroes of 2000’s Road Trip went well beyond sympathy. Sometimes it’s a mixed bag, like 2004’s Starsky & Hutch. But with Old School and now The Hangover, Phillips makes sure that the unappealing aspects of his characters are what make them more dimensional.

And what characters they are. Cooper is the nominal lead, but Helms and Galifianakis are the ones you’ll remember. Helms is an expert at creating characters who are always just off the beat of the cool people. Here he evolves the vulnerable ass he plays on The Office. Helms has tended to go for laughs over honesty, but this is the surprise exception. Galifianakis is truly an original, with his big man’s physical humor and his small man’s voice. He’s the movie’s wild card, and he’s a treat. Galifianakis has been around for more than a decade (Boston Common, Tru Calling), but this is his breakout role. It will be fun to see what else this guy can do. Cooper (He’s Just Not That Into You) has been groomed for stardom over the past three years. He may finally reach it with The Hangover, but I’m not convinced people will come to movies to see him. Cooper is great at playing the jerk—see Rachel McAdams’ fiancé in The Wedding Crashers. But as a leading man, he may join Josh Lucas and Colin Farrell in the “Who cares?” bin. Bartha gets only a fraction of the screen time of the others, but makes a very appealing mark. Bartha has a very funny casual delivery; he is the funny sidekick who makes the National Treasure movies watchable. Maybe he’ll get more time in the sequel that was ordered before The Hangover even hit theaters.

Now, to be clear, there isn’t any real growth of character, save a small and obvious change for Helms. And these guys don’t have anything approaching a real exchange between real men. The movie also commits a bit more time than necessary to uninspired cameos. But then it saves the biggest shocks for the painfully grotesque and hilarious closing credits. For all its fun insanity, The Hangover doesn’t approach the likes of other all-nighters like Midnight Run or Superbad. It’s a movie you thoroughly enjoy, just not one you love.

Alex Manugian lives in Sherman Oaks, Calif. He grew up in Groton and has reviewed movies for Harvard readers for many years.