Take a gamble on 'Hangover'

With a baby named Carlos in tow and a tiger in the bathroom, good-timing "The Hangover" is one of those Vegas best-bet films, though not for an Oscar, just for an amusing couple of hours.

"The Hangover" is the classic bachelor movie done right, complete with baby Carloses, stolen tigers, Mike Tyson, naked and angry Chinese men, and stripper marrying (a Vegas film wouldn't be complete without stripper marrying). The only thing missing is an Elvis impersonator, yet somehow, we feel him in spirit.

The film gets its gusto from the fortuitous foursome of buddies lost in this Vegas night of debauchery. It's a complementary combination of straight-laced groom-to-be Doug (Justin Bartha), ultra straight-laced and emasculated dentist Stu (Ed Helms), the mentally precarious Alan (Zack Galifianakis) and somewhat normal school teacher desperate for some fun, Phil (Bradley Cooper).

Throw in a cheeky script by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore that takes these guys from one outrageous situation to the next, and you've got a good roll of the dice.

In the movie, Doug is about to get married.

Cue the bachelor party - a seemingly harmless road trip to Vegas to guy-bond and let off a little steam.

Doug is obligated to take his soon-to-be, not-all-there brother-in-law Alan with him on the trip. As it turns out, Alan proves to be the chunky bit in what might otherwise have been smooth puddin'. Alan, unbeknownst to the fellow groomsmen, has slipped ruffies into the guys' Jagermeisters during a rooftop toast to celebrate the good buddy sentiment of the evening.

The next thing the guys know, they're waking up in their $4,500 a night villa at Caesar's Palace with a baby in the closet, a tiger in the bathroom, a hotel room that speaks debauchery and a missing groom who they don't know how to find because they don't know what happened the night before.

So begins the guys' investigation into their wacky Vegas goings-on.

They trace their steps in a police cruiser they apparently stole the night before, back to an emergency room, quickie wedding chapel run by an Eastern European block proprietor named Eddie, a stripper's motel room, police station, the poker tables and the middle of the desert.

Still, Doug is nowhere to be found and, with no way to avoid the impending phone calls of doom from the bride, it looks like they might not make it to the church in time.

Much of the humor of "The Hangover" comes from tributes to past Vegas films, which are a genre all their own. There's a classic Vegas gangster showdown in the middle of the desert, this one involving Chinese gangsters and another guy named Doug, though he's black and has thus been dubbed "Black Doug." There's even a classic scene from "Rain Man" that is lovingly reproduced.

Galifianakis just about steals the show as the dumb guy of the bunch. He even asks the lobby clerk at Caesar's Palace if the hotel is the real Caesar's Palace. Helms as Stu, a dentist who wakes up missing a tooth, is also of the scene-stealer variety. His character is about to marry the next bridezilla, Melissa (Rachael Harris). And Cooper is kind of the everyday party guy we all know - the one voice of reason in this wacky buddy stew.

The nice thing about the movie is that the audience never knows what to expect, and director Todd Phillips keeps the pace going at a quick clip. One minute the guys are arguing in the car and the next a naked guy jumps out of the trunk with a crowbar; one minute they're are in a police station waiting room, and the next they're being Tasered.

"The Hangover" is a funny, entertaining couple of hours and one of those DVDs you'll pop into the machine when you need a good laugh (the easily offended should probably stay away).

Oh, and don't stop the DVD at the credits. Let it keep rolling to see photos from the famed "missing camera" that chronicle the guys' night of debauchery. Definitely a best bet.

Arts and entertainment editor Lana Sweeten-Shults can be reached at shultsl@timesrecordnews.com