The Hangover (2009)
Where to Watch
- To accurately portray their role in The Hangover, Bradley Cooper spent weeks conducting hands-on research and rehearsing directly with director Todd Phillips.
- Despite initial studio skepticism, The Hangover went on to gross over $469,300,000 worldwide.
The Hangover is a 2009 American comedy film directed by Todd Phillips. The film follows four friends who travel to Las Vegas for a bachelor party: Phil, a schoolteacher played by Bradley Cooper; Stu, a dentist played by Ed Helms; Alan, the bride's eccentric brother played by Zach Galifianakis; and Doug, the groom-to-be played by Justin Bartha. After a wild night of celebration on the roof of Caesars Palace, Phil, Stu, and Alan wake up in their trashed hotel suite with no memory of the previous night and no sign of Doug.
What follows is a chaotic quest to piece together their evening's events โ which apparently included stealing a tiger from Mike Tyson, finding a baby in the closet, and Stu marrying a stripper โ in order to find Doug before the wedding. The Hangover became a defining comedy of its era, tapping into a specific male anxiety about bachelor party excess and the terror of lost memory with a precision that resonated with audiences worldwide. Zach Galifianakis's performance as the deeply strange, socially oblivious Alan was a breakout role that transformed the stand-up comedian into a movie star, and his interactions with Ken Jeong's memorable turn as the unhinged gangster Mr.
Chow became some of the most quoted comedy moments of the 2000s. The film earned $467 million worldwide on a modest $35 million budget, making it the highest-grossing R-rated comedy of all time at that point. Bradley Cooper's charismatic turn helped elevate him from a supporting player to a leading man, launching a career that would eventually include multiple Academy Award nominations.
The Hangover's success spawned two sequels and established Todd Phillips as one of Hollywood's most commercially reliable comedy directors.
