It’s our first celebrity interview!
Sure, we got the chance to speak with Jesse Eisenberg during last years Edinburgh Film Festival, but due to moving house, we had to skip that.

So this time we made sure we’d not miss another opportunity!

Posting under the name Crafu, you can see our probing question to Bradley Cooper 4 lines from the end and 2 lines later comes his in depth answer.

“The Hangover – Never has feeling so bad felt so good”.

Let’s be honest, the plot alone is a surefire winner – four men. A bachalor party (stag-do to us Brits). In Vegas. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, if Jon Lucas and Scott Moore (co-writers) are to be believed, pretty much everything.

Todd Philips has found fine form once again here. Much like with Road Trip and Old School (he snaffles a brief cameo in each), this film essentially boils down to a close group of guys finding themselves in ever increasing wild and weird situations for the entire duration of the film. The clichés are all here. You’ve got the obligatory nerd Stu (Ed Helms), the slightly creepy simpleton loner Alan (comedian Zach Galifianakis), the outgoing pack leader Phil (Bradley Cooper) and the ‘middle of the road’ sufferer dragged into the whole maelstrom – husband to be Doug (Justin Bartha). All are great but this film belongs to Alan, the brother-in-law to be who proves time and again that you should “Ignore the beard, he’s just a child”.

After an arrestingly menacing opener things quickly reduce into a farcical, near non-stop whodunnit? – or more accurately whodunwhat? After waking from the promised night to remember, nobody can remember a thing. And with one of the gang having disappeared the remaining three have no time to dwell on their mysterious injuries (fear the dentist? then prepare to squirm), lost belongings and newly acquired exotic pet as they are forced to drive, fight and run up and down the strip in an attempt to locate their missing groom to be. All the while the wedding is drawing ever closer – check out the utterly believable desperation come creeping on as the inevitable “everything’s fine!” calls that are made back home (we’ve all made them, just think of your worst example and x it by 50) to the anxious bride and Stu’s truly awful girlfriend – you will know someone like her.

All in all, The Hangover, simply put, is a great comedy. With an appropriate running time (95 mins), more gags then any one film rightfully deserves (keep an eye out for the sequel) and a genuine, liberal dose of that often missing ‘feel-good’ factor it accomplishes precisely what a comedy should – it makes you laugh. A lot.

Because of the huge heart at its centre you cannot help but laugh out-loud in good conscience at the films (many) grimier gags – keep an eye out for the baby and the numerous cameos. As in Knocked Up and Role Models Ken Jeong pops up later to provide another larger then life passive / aggressive turn (you just know they have a riot coming up with this stuff). Not quite so successful is the much publicised “Iron” Mike Tyson appearance. He himself is rubbish. He doesn’t spoil anything, it works that he’s rubbish. Trust me, you’ll see.

“You probably get this a lot but this isn’t the real Caesar’s Palace is it?”

In short, The Hangover is easily Todd’s best so far. It effortlessly manages to take you through the A-Z of gross, inappropriate group male behaviour but all the while keeps things feeling, well, “nice and fuzzy”. Ignore the negative reviews (and there have been many). They’ve missed the point and somehow the countless funny jokes – just listen closely for the hysterical one-liners that are almost tossed away.

There’s no malice here, no cheap tricks or lazy cynicism. It’s just a very funny film.

If you’re a guy (and I suspect the same applies for the girls) and you’re under fifty, chances are you will just “get” this film. You’ll find yourself wandering out of the cinema with a big grin on your face and your mind racing as to how/who/when you can rope into a boy’s holiday as if your life depends on it. You’ll be quoting it with the guys for years to come.

Oh, and you’ll never have been so happy to sit through the end credits either.