Love Life, Hate Kittens

If there was a category for a “man flick” this is it. Following in the footsteps of feel good movies like I Love You, Man and Superbad, The Hangover is the latest addition to the era of bromance.

The premise is simple - four friends taking one last excursion into Sin City. Gets fucked up. Lost the groom. Cliche right? Yes. But The Hangover manages to take this tried and true formula and toss in a twist. It’s like the Half Baked version of Memento. The trio has to retrace their steps to find their best friend while navigating through roofied memories of strippers, marriage, flamboyant asian men, stolen cop cars, a lot of penises and a tiger.

What stands out in this movie is the thin line between outlandish heightened reality paried with the realistic characters. You have Doug - the eager groom to be. Phil - the Alpha male of the group, always calm in any situation. You have Stu (who looks like a grown McLovin’ btw) - the dentist proclaimed doctor who grows a backbone and Allen - the oddball friend that they really didn’t care to hang out with in the first place. He summed it up perfectly - no longer a wolf pack of one.

It’s about four friends not leaving the other behind. While there is a love interest, and wives/gfs/fiances, they provided context and add character to the main cast and served as a solid backdrop rather than being an integral part of the story.

The movie in short? It’s boys. Being boys.

PS. and who am I kidding. Phil is just that fucking hot.