The Hangover DVD box set: every man has his Vegas in heart

The Hangover DVD box set is a movie based almost entirely on comic surprise. When our hapless overgrown boys wake up in their expensive Vegas hotel suite, the detailed destruction that inexplicably took place the night before is stupefying. An enormous pyramid of empty beer bottles overseen by a confused rooster is a mere intro to a labyrinth of unexplained circumstances. An abandoned infant and a bathroom-ensconced tiger deliver immediacy to the plight of three guys who you’d be just as likely to meet at a bar in Los Angeles or New York.

If the plot’s not enough to drive you crazy, the lack of intellectuality in the humor will make you want to rip your hair out, or go and slap the ticket boy at the front of the theater for allowing you to spend 8 dollars on this movie. Director Todd Phillips finds ways to push the envelope in nearly every scene of the film, and he relies heavily on “shock value” for laughs. Sure, the situations they get into are humorous, but how hard is it to generate chuckles when you’ve set yourself up with this premise?

I won’t go into the moral details too much. Let’s be honest, it’s rated R; it’s a film about grown men partying so hard they can’t remember an entire night. You as a viewer doesn’t need me to spoon feed you or tell you that you should tread carefully. I will say that, if you have a problem with any curse word under the sun, male butts, topless women, or sexual innuendo, don’t bother. There’s a plethora of the above listed, as well as a few even more deeply disturbing photographs shown during the credits that I won’t even mention.

It seems that every man has a Las Vegas in his heart. But some people take it into action; some people try very hard to suppress it. That depends on your choice.