a good comedy after a good long while

THE HANGOVER!

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Right, that’s if you can remember what happened in VEGAS. 3 guys on a bachelor party to SIN CITY who loose the GROOM- far fetched and not the most mind-staggering premise, but TODD PHILLIPS is back in his comfort zone here as friends dealing with mishaps has been a favourite theme in many of his works be it ROAD TRIP or OLD SCHOOL. The good thing is that this time around, his direction feels assured and gives the film polish. I liked his out of the box casting, and how he keeps the momentum going through some crisp editing & an energetic music score courtesy CHRISTOPHER BECK. While the narrative loses steam in the latter half, after all there is only so much fun in discovering the reasons for craziness after a point. & at times things reach a panicked monotonous pitch, the screenplay scores in its characterizations and all the bizarre touches, twists, events & characters that unravel due to the debauchery-some fun surprises here.

Thankfully, writers JON LUCAS & SCOTT MOORE (4 christmases, ghosts of girlfriends past) manage to just balance freshness with familiarity and the one amazing quality the film has is that its almost consistently funny - If this one is going to leave you with a hangover it’ll be one full of verbal jokes and one liners- which for the most part work due to the memorable performances.

Whether making solemn blood brother promises or getting punched in the face by MIKE TYSON or cowering from a hilarious, deadpan, ever-cursing Chinese mafia don, ZACH GALIFIANAKIS as ALAN steals the show making the funny fat guy NUMERO UNO reason for watching the film. BRADLEY COOPER is engaging if a bit casual as calm, cool, in control PHIL and brings an interesting mystery into this JOCK turned schoolteacher, husband and father- character who’s track in the writing feels the most incomplete. ED HELMS brings a freshness, normalcy & dry wit to the dentist-doctor STU and while some of his raving and ranting got a bit over the top, I couldn’t help cheering for him when he comes into his own at the end of the film.

Females in this pretty much fit into types- the ever patient bride to be, bossy, neurotic girlfriend & sweet friendly prostitute –but lets get this straight, they are meant to be only props for the BOYS to figure out how to get groom & GROW UP.

 

A testosterone laden summer storm WEDDING CRASHERS style , THE HANGOVER is a coming of age , well kind of, for the boys and another addition to the HOLLYWOD WEDDINGS FLICKS folio. Don’t get your knickers in a twist (or you might just end up lie ALAN) with trying to analyse much here -an incident driven but well made comedy of errors, love & friendship, GALIFIANAKIS makes this one rise above the average- CATCH IT

of ghosts, dogs, imagination

It seems to me that Mark Waters has lost his edge a bit and the rom com is suffering from some imaginative fatigue- from the man who gave us MEAN GIRLS an FREAKY FRIDAY comes an annoyingly predictable, gooey adaptation of DICKENS' classic A CHRISTMAS CAROL, GHOSTS OF GIRLFRIENDS PAST. Now, who can foget the eternal pessimist and cynic SCROOGE; there he didnt believe in CHRISTMAS or the spirit of giving, here its choc boy McCONOUGHEY who doesnt believe in love- ITS A MYTH , a disease of the weak, for sissies...yeah all those familiar cliches (the writing is shockingly stale here- sexist, corny, stereotypical, boring!).

But even McConoughey's pretty face or DOUGLAS' wicked smile (he's the one saving grace of the film) cant salvage things here. As for the lady who makes MCCONOUGHEY start believing, MS GARNER looks awkward and almost unsure of what she needs to do here, her chemistry with a potential besides the hero, a tall, dark, handsome, doctor (note:another prototype?) seems more easy and natural than with leading man casanova turned soul mate.

dissssapointing. ROM COM ALERT: please freshen things up!

Hotel for Dogs on the other hand was a pleasant surprise. my thoughts on this one below:

At first when I saw the title of this one, I groaned. Another dog movie. Now, don’t be fooled, the HOTEL in the title is far from what we think the word usually means, and the mutts nothing like the annoying, over pampered, artificial talking dogs weve been seeing in recent films.

I loved the opening titles with the pop up story book feel, the warm, fuzzy happy family, bubbly music; enter our hero FRIDAY, some cool camera work making the most of dog facts like a sharpened sense of smell and colour blindness, and two teenagers up to illegal mischief and suddenly u feel like there’s a lot more on offer.

There's this refreshing old world charm and sweetness FREUDENTHAL manages to bring in to the film. As I watched BRUCE & ANDI, the villainous foster parents, dogcatchers and the themes of homelessness unfold, I kept getting images of Oliver Twist, Dickens esque villains and some of my all time favourite dog films like LADY AND THE TRAMP or a 101 DALMATIONS!

 Debutante Freudenthal also  quite effectively blends realism and fantasy, comp generated tricks with moments of heart, creating a great sense of energy, colour and movement in the film. credit must be given too for his casting and the cute box of chocolates assortment of irresistible dogs with familiar personalities, great performances (or should I say some incredible animal training- watch it in the special features, wow).

 

The plot isn’t just fluff thogh it gets sentimental in bits.  I liked the parallels between the humans and dog worlds and plot threads- lost, homeless, naughty, never too in your face but subtly brought out in the storytelling. The fresh cast makes sometimes one dimensional adult, human, animal characters and relations come alive with a spontaneity and warmth.

 

My favourite part were the montages with laugh out loud and ingenious dog inventions be it imaginary fur swept car rides to sneaker vending machines for chewing pleasure!

 

There is of course a message but its not preachy and in the recent spate of dog movies we’ve seen from a BOLT to a BEVERLY HILLS CHIHUHAHA,id say this one, with its tail wagging affectionately at you will seep into your heart and entertain- CATCH IT.