Grade: B+ | Genre: Comedy Summary: While it may not have nailed immortal comic status like Old School or 40-Year-Old Virgin, I guarantee this will go down on the shortlist of the best comedies of the year. The bachelor party is the ultimate rite of passage for modern man. It's that last hurrah before settling down and agreeing to be responsible and stable. It's also a time for the other men to revel in their buddies' last gasps of bachelorhood as if it were their own. Few evenings create more lasting memories even if the memories are the utter lack there of. Now the difficult part for a filmmaker and scriptwriter is to capture all that craziness in a way that isn't cheesy (Tom Hank's Bachelor Party) or disturbing (Very Bad Things). The Hangover managed to do it in spades and has introduced us to the comic talents of virtual unknown Zach Galifianakis and Bradley Cooper.

The film doesn't waste anytime bringing us up to speed. We see the three boys out in the middle of the desert, minus the groom, calling the bride-to-be to tell her the wedding, only hours away, is toast. What got us here you ask? Well it turns out that stumbling through this maze of a story is the fun part. We kick back to the start of our tale. Doug (Justin Bartha) is about to march down the aisle so the boys are trekking to Vegas to send him off in style with strippers and Christol. Bradley Cooper plays Phil, the bad boy of the group, dying to leave behind the domesticity of his life so he can suck the last vestiges of bachelorhood out of his buddy. Stu (Ed Helms) is a straight-laced dentist who can't fart unless his girlfriend gives him permission. Alan (Zach Galifianakis) is Doug's soon to be brother-in-law who is more than just a little off. The troup piles into the classic convertible Mercedes on loan from Doug's father-in-law and set course for Vegas.

On paper, this cast doesn't bowl you over. You have a lot of comic accessories on board. Ed Helms has never commanded the comic spotlight on either the Office or the John Stewart Show. Bradley Cooper is best known as the obstacle to Owen Wilson's affections in Wedding Crashers. Zach Galifianakis just got dropped in from Pluto. The amazing thing is these virtual cast offs are comic genius when brought together. Bradley Cooper has cemented himself as a leading man, carrying this film, though Zach Galifianakis was the true hidden gem. As "fat Jesus," he rolls off one great line into the next. His character is so quirky, strange that he just lends himself to being the butt of every joke the film can muster.

Of course, we can't overlook the writers Jon Lucus and Scott Moore. The utter randomness of the evening and how events unfold is deftly thought out. Like a complex comedic maze, they don't bog us down in the irrelevant and make sure they sock us with another laugh just as we're getting too comfortable. Who would have thought the same team that was behind Ghosts of Girlfriends Past and Four Christmases could actually deliver a savvy script?

Overall, the Hangover was very satisfying. Watching the boys try to shine light on one massive blackout is very humorous and strangely intriguing. I think we may look back on the Hangover as the vehicle that launched Bradley Cooper and Zach Galifianakis. So while it may not have nailed immortal comic status like Old School or 40-Year-Old Virgin, I guarantee this will go down on the shortlist of the best comedies of the year. It certainly won't leave you wanting for laughs.

Release Date: June 5, 2009