| Audience: | Adult |
| MPAA Rating: | Rated R for pervasive language, sexual content including nudity, and some drug material |
| Profanity: | Constant very strong and crude language |
| Nudity/Sex: | Very explicit sexual references and situations, male and female nudity, character is a stripper and escort, very graphic photos of sex acts |
| Alcohol/Drugs: | Drinking, drug use, character deals drugs, drug humor |
| Violence/Scariness: | Comic peril and violence with some graphic images, shooting, car crashes, punching, child in peril, |
| Diversity Issues: | Some homophobic and sexist humor |
| Movie Release Date: | June 5, 2009 |
When things go wrong for us, it's tragedy. When they go wrong for someone else, it's funny. As Alan Dale says, comedy is a man in trouble. This comedy gives us four men in a lot of trouble following a debauched, drug-fueled bachelor party in Las Vegas who wake up with no recollection of what happened and no idea what has happened to one's missing tooth, another's missing mattress, and, most significantly, no groom. The one whose wedding is being celebrated, the one whose wedding is taking place the next day, has disappeared.
Meanwhile, there are some items in the trashed hotel room with the still-smoking chair that no one recalls having seen before, including a chicken, a tiger, and an infant. At the beginning of the evening, they toasted "to a night the four of us will never forget." By the next morning, the three remaining guys cannot remember anything that happened, and the rest of the movie has them racing all over to figure out where they went, what they did, and how the groom managed to disappear without a trace.
In one respect, it's just a cheerfully outrageous comedy, with much of the humor coming from our discovering along with the hapless trio of boy-men chafing at the bonds of civilization just how appallingly they have violated every possible standard of appropriate behavior and good taste. It's your basic best of both worlds comedy where we get to see our most childish wishes fulfilled and then get to see the characters on screen suffer the punishment for it. But it is also a whacked-out variation on "The Wizard of Oz," with characters in need of a heart, a brain, and courage going on a journey to an exotic land and learning that there's no place like home.
Doug (Justin Bartha) is about to get married and so his two best friends take him to Las Vegas for one last bachelor blow-out. They are Phil (Bradley Cooper), a teacher who is married with a son and says that he hates his life in need of a heart, and Stu ("The Office's" Ed Helms) an uptight dentist who is about to propose to his controlling, unfaithful shrew of a girlfriend, who needs some nerve. That leaves Alan (comedian Zach Galifianakis) who is lacking brains. He's along for the ride because he is the bride's brother. And the gorgeous mint-condition Mercedes convertible is what they are riding in, thanks to what is inevitably going to be shown to be a very foolish gesture on the part of the prospective father-in-law. The wicked witch part, of course, is shared by nearly every woman on screen.
Cooper is a comic actor trapped in the very appealing body of a leading man and Helms (who gamely had his fake tooth removed for authenticity) provides able counterpoint as the conflicted Stu. Galifianakis looks like a cross between a Hobbit and a garden gnome and a little of him goes a long way, but he manages to be less obnoxious than expected. And they run into an engaging variety of characters along the way including an emergency room doctor, a drug dealer (Mike Epps), an effeminate gangster, an earthy wedding chapel manager, and of course an "escort" with a heart of good (a very game and, as ever, alluring and adorable Heather Graham).
The film's most disappointing element is its casual sexism. Aside from the escort, all of the women come across as shrewish and narcissistic. But other than that, like predecessors "Superbad" and "Pineapple Express," the movie has an essential sweetness that disinfects its raunchiest moments.
Parents should know that the humor in this film comes from the very extreme, outrageous, vulgar, and inappropriate behavior of all involved. It has constant very bad language, very explicit sexual references and situations, explicit male and female nudity, character is a stripper and "escort," extremely vulgar humor, drinking and drug use and drug references, character is a drug dealer, violence including shooting, punching, car crashes, and accidents, a teacher who steals from students, and a child in "comic" peril. The credit sequence at the end has NC-17-level, very graphic photographs.
Family discussion: What do the voicemail messages at the beginning tell you about each of the characters? Can funny movies get away with a lot of politically incorrect humor?
If you like this, try: "Swingers" and "I Love You Man"
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thanks 2 you 2 suzzyq and movie mom too!
TW
As conspiracies go, I'm sure that two people cannot post everything that has to do with human sexuality on every movie web site on the internet. Thank you for not including people like me, that are speaking UP and OUT, in your conspiracy theory.
You state that you are reading posts from every movie review site, perhaps you should rethink that activity, I'm only saying this out of kindness not to belittle you.
If I were movie mom, I would have deleted your comments as they were very angry. Once again, out of kindness to humankind, perhaps you should re-read what you wrote for future growth.
I do agree with you when it comes to spam, that is where I agreed with you whole heatedly.
Movie Mom, how about doing your blog on Youtube? They are already set up to do video post and response. You could disable comments, to weed out phantom people and allow only approved video responses.
Just a thought, but It does work. The example below is from my friend, David Spate. He has been on Youtube for 3 years or so and has 50,000 grass root subscribers. Enjoy listening to this example that reflects a balanced view of the Perez Hilton "incident" and how a real live human being can raise the awareness of an issue without being hateful, even when his view disagrees with others.
youtube.com/watch?v=uSPb-jOr-ic&feature=PlayList&p=A25641572BB48BD9&index=2
The love pouring out from the above video is real. Think about who you could touch, Movie Mom, if you were not restricted to one form of media.
Continue to take care as you follow your passion in the movie viewing world and beyond. SQ
Thanks, SuzzyQ. While I do require civility in the comments on the site, I enjoy a lively exchange and did not have a problem with TW's post. There are people who focus on particular issues and just leave the same comments on every site they can find and they are the ones claiming conspiracies, not TW. I share TW's frustration about that.
I post video clips here and on YouTube occasionally, so you can check them out and see what you think! And I am on the radio every week, too, so that is another way I reach out to people. I will look at your friend's video and if you post any of your own, let me know. I'd love to see you.
Holy Cow...are you telling me that because of complaining people, the digital images during the credits where Alan is getting oral have been censored for DVD release? I was watching it last week and saw that the images had a mosaic pattern around his mule. What is it with this cry baby world where they gotta complaing about anything and everything...so they showed an erection...OH MY GOD..END OF THE WORLD..go find real crap to be so concerned with and let the adults enjoy what they want. Don't speak on my behalf. Exactly why I'm not having kids...I don't want to bring them up in our world that just gets worse by the year.
Well, Rich, if seeing the "mule" is that important to you, you can get the unrated edition. But must say the lack of access to explicit sexual material in an R-rated movie is the most unusual reason not to have children I can remember hearing.
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