TODD PHILLIPS

Bil’s rating (out of 5):  BBBB.  USA/Germany, 2009.  Warner Bros., Legendary Entertainment, Green Hat Films, IFP Westcoast Erste.   Screenplay by Jon Lucas, Scott Moore.  Cinematography by Lawrence Sher.  Produced by Todd Phillips.  Music by Christophe Beck.  Production Design by Bill Brzeski.  Costume Design by Louise Mingenbach.  Film Editing by Debra Neil-Fisher.  American Film Institute 2009.  Golden Globe Awards 2009.  

A wild Las Vegas bachelor party reduces a party of four to three when they wake up the morning after their fun times and realize that they remember nothing of the night before. Even worse, the missing member of their troupe is the groom (Justin Bartha) who is meant to walk down the aisle the day after their rude awakening. Now three completely hung over, physically and mentally destroyed men have to go through a series of clues to decipher not only what took place during their night on the town, but where their guest of honour ended up a result. With clues like a tiger in the bathroom, a naked man in the trunk of the car, a stolen police car in their valet parking spot and a wedding certificate shared between one of the guys and a cheerful stripper (Heather Graham), you just know they’re going to be sorry not to remember anything that has happened. Despite a ridiculously easy set-up and premise (how many movies about reckless men could they possible make), this one does set itself apart for quality: its complete lack of moral boundaries comes across as integrity for some reason…the more sexist, racist and overall tasteless the film gets, the more dangerously funny it is, in its own weird way revealing how disgusting priviliged North Americans truly are (as opposed to the movies that tend to sugarcoat it). And then they add a shot of a naked octogenarian man as if to remind us all to chill out on our moral indignation and accept that it all ends up in old age and/or death no matter what, so have a good time and fuck politeness.