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The Rewatchables ·

The Hangover

year 2009decade 00sdirector Todd Phillipsgenre Drama
host Bill Simmonshost Chris Ryanhost Sean Fennessey
All 14 categories

Most Rewatchable Scene · 26:23

Brunch with Carlos the baby and the Baby Bjorn elevator ride

First nominee is the drive to Vegas, a fantastic five and a half minutes from the gas station stop through Galifianakis in the car to checking in at the hotel; Phil starts drinking as soon as he gets in the car, like the two guys at every bachelor party who get wrecked on the way there, and the others realize in the car that Galifianakis has 17 screws loose.

Waking up in the hotel room not knowing what happened is phenomenal: a nice camera move that follows a disoriented Ed Helms looking around, Galifianakis naked pissing next to a tiger he does not register for ten seconds, a chicken from nowhere, everybody sleeping on the floor and the woman sneaking out; a smart scene that sets up everything.

The Neil McCauley “A Book about Metals” Award for Best Line from the Movie · 1:12:25

"I didn't know they gave out rings at the Holocaust"

Nominated lines: 'I didn't know they gave out rings at the Holocaust'; 'it's at the corner of get a map and fuck off'; the reminder that their best friend Doug is probably face down in a ditch with a meth head butt-fucking his corpse; and Bradley Cooper on Alan, 'he's like a gremlin, comes with instructions and shit'.

The film

The Hangover (2009)

Directed by Todd Phillips · Drama

100 minutes

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Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Bradley Cooper Phil Wenneck, a teacher and the leader of the Wolfpack
Ed Helms Dr. Stu Price, a dentist
Zach Galifianakis Alan Garner, Doug's socially inept future brother-in-law, who has ADHD and acts childishly and erratically
Justin Bartha Doug Billings, the groom, who goes missing for most of the film
Heather Graham Jade, a stripper and escort
Sasha Barrese Tracy Garner, Doug's bride and Alan's sister
Jeffrey Tambor Sid Garner, Tracy's and Alan's father
Ken Jeong Mr. Leslie Chow, a flamboyant Chinese gangster
Rachael Harris Melissa, Stu's uptight, abusive and unfaithful girlfriend
Mike Tyson himself Tyson originally refused to appear in the film, but he changed his mind when he found out that Todd Phillips had directed Old School , which Tyson liked. Tyson later said that working on the film convinced him to change his lifestyle.
Mike Epps Black Doug, a drug dealer who is mistaken for Doug
Jernard Burks Leonard
Rob Riggle Officer Franklin
Cleo King Officer Garden
Bryan Callen Eddie, the wedding organizer
Matt Walsh Dr. Valsh
Ian Anthony Dale Chow's #1
Michael Li Chow's #2
Sondra Currie Linda Garner, Tracy's and Alan's mother
Gillian Vigman Stephanie Wenneck, Phil's wife
Murray Gershenz Felix (hospital elderly man)
Nathalie Fay Lisa (Caesar's Palace Clerk)

Everything from the episode

In the order the hosts got to it. Open a row for the discussion.

24:47

Roger Ebert's review
In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 00:24:47Read transcript
  • Rotten Tomatoes has the film at 78 percent; Roger Ebert loved it and gave it three and a half stars, greeted with 'of course'.
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48:10

Casting What-Ifs

Lindsay Lohan nearly cast as Jade but judged too young by Phillips; Jack Black turned down Alan; Paul Rudd turned dow...

Lindsay Lohan nearly cast as Jade but judged too young by Phillips; Jack Black turned down Alan; Paul Rudd turned down Phil; Jeremy Piven turned down Stu; Mike Tyson refused until he learned Phillips made Old School; Alan was written as a Jonah Hill-type younger brother and Thomas Hayden Church (as transcribed) was considered

In the discussion (9)
Approx. transcript time · 00:48:10Read transcript
  • Lindsay Lohan was almost cast as Jade; Phillips decided she was too young and is adamant about it, while Lohan's version is that she turned it down and it was the biggest regret of her career.
  • Lohan in the movie would have felt very 2009 and not a good version of her; Heather Graham is perfect, and being a little older makes the part work better.
  • One host is not as much of a believer in the theory that Lohan was a great Goldie Hawn-esque movie star whose talent was frittered away. — Sean Fennessey
  • The reaction is 'Oh, how dare you?' and 'This is your worst take you've ever had', with Parent Trap offered as proof: she plays two people, one with an English accent, like a 17-year-old Meryl Streep in training; Freaky Friday is weaker.
  • The Heather Graham conversation runs License to Drive, Twins, Drugstore Cowboy, Six Degrees of Separation and Swingers, by which point one host was in love, then Austin Powers; she may have been his number one 90s crush, Ed Burns dated her, and Boogie Nights, Even Cowgirls Got the Blues, Diggstown, Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, Scream 2, Two Girls and a Guy and Bowfinger show she was always in good stuff and good at sending up her persona; another gets her confused with Terry Polo.
  • Her ABC show Emily's Reasons Why Not never worked; Grey's Anatomy is raised as a show she might have led, but she is a comic actress who thrives in comedy; she is good here and way better than Lohan would have been, her 35 making more sense than weird 25-year-old energy.
  • Jack Black turned down Alan, thank God, since he would have overpowered the other three; Paul Rudd turned down Phil and would have been doing Brian Fantana and Sex Panther while making fun of it, whereas you believe Cooper as a shit bag even greeting his wife at the wedding; Rudd has not played a guy like that outside Neil LeBute (as transcribed) plays.
  • Jeremy Piven turned down Stu, thank God, probably because he was at the height of Ari Gold; Stu is the third lead.
  • Mike Tyson refused to appear and changed his mind on learning Phillips directed Old School; the Galifianakis character was written as a younger brother-in-law of the Jonah Hill type until Phillips realized an older brother was funnier, and Thomas Hayden Church (as transcribed) was the other option, a different movie.
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57:47

Half-Assed Internet Research

Inspired by producer Trip Vinson's real missing bachelor party; Ed Helms' missing tooth was real, a pulled dental imp...

Inspired by producer Trip Vinson's real missing bachelor party; Ed Helms' missing tooth was real, a pulled dental implant; Helms shot The Office by day and the film by night; a prosthetic was used for the end-credits blowjob photo; the script sold for two million and was rewritten by Phillips and Jeremy Gerlach (as transcribed), who added Tyson, the tiger, the baby and the police cruiser; Caesars guests still quote the check-in lines; Galifianakis improvised the Holocaust ring line; Todd Phillips traded his fee for 16 percent of the film and made about 80 million

In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 00:57:47Read transcript
  • The story was inspired by a real event: Trip Vinson, a producer and friend of executive producer Chris Bender, went missing from his own bachelor party and woke up in a strip joint being threatened with a huge bill; Ed Helms' missing tooth was real, not CGI, because he had a dental implant for a missing adult incisor since his teens and they pulled it out.
  • Helms was shooting The Office at the same time, flying from Vegas to Van Nuys at four in the morning to shoot all day and the film all night; he said that stretch of The Office shows him out of his mind, slurring with a fake tooth in and living on Red Bulls.
  • Asked whether they like Ed Helms, one host respectfully does not, except in this movie, disliking the type of guy he plays; he is nonetheless one of the most successful comedy actors of his generation, with Vacation, the Night at the Museum movies, We're the Millers, Tag and animated films, the CJ McCollum of actors nobody leads a podcast with.
  • For the explicit final photo of Zach getting a blowjob, a prosthetic penis was used and an old porn actor was found to perform on it, prompting 'what a great podcast'.
  • John Lucas (as transcribed) and Scott Moore sold the script for two million; it was rewritten by Jeremy Gerlach (as transcribed) and Todd Phillips, who added the Tyson, the tiger, the baby and the police cruiser, which led to a WGA credit dispute; the two songs were improvised.
  • The film had a major impact on Caesars, where guests still quote 'Did Caesar live here?' and the pager-friendly line at check-in; the hosts advise against it since the staff have heard it; Galifianakis improvised 'I didn't know they gave out rings of the Holocaust' (as transcribed) and the filmmakers debated whether to keep it.
  • Todd Phillips' deal is called almost too good for the segment: his fee was about six and a half million, Legendary wanted to cut the budget after losing the stars they expected, and instead of half his fee he took no fee for points, ending up with 16 percent of the movie and about 80 million dollars, probably still earning from streaming; the four then negotiated as a quartet for the next two.
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1:06:57

Picking Nits

The villa could not cost 4,200 dollars; Alan looks nothing like his sister; how the tiger got into Caesars; where the...

The villa could not cost 4,200 dollars; Alan looks nothing like his sister; how the tiger got into Caesars; where the chicken came from; nobody checked the roof for a full day; Doug sits on 80,000 in Bellagio chips for two hours; the room damage bill; the tiger never used the bathroom; no rehearsal dinner; Stu hanging up on his girlfriend with no fallout; a Sunday backyard wedding; the fiancee accepting the extra night; whether Stu, Doug and Phil are even friends

In the discussion (12)
Approx. transcript time · 01:06:57Read transcript
  • There is no way the room costs 4,200 dollars, which really bothers one host; in 2009 it would have been eight to ten thousand and now around twenty, unless it was a day-of rate or a Caesars-approved trick to lure people into villas.
  • Whether they are ever held accountable for the room damage is held for later; Alan was the bride's brother yet looks nothing like her, so he must have been adopted, though another host feels he does look like Tambor's offspring and it is the fiancee who does not.
  • How did they steal the tiger and get it into Caesars Palace when there are always people in the lobby even at five in the morning; Cooper's oral history bit that the cast showed up after night shoots with tiger scratches and nobody blinked is enjoyed, though people would blink at a tiger; where the chicken came from is better left unanswered.
  • Nobody thought to check the roof during a full day of searching, with Ed Helms' epiphany coming 24 hours in; in mitigation, these guys are stupid, they were roofied, and they were misled into thinking Doug was with them at dinner.
  • Doug waits two hours to tell them he found 80,000 dollars of Bellagio chips in his pocket; the speaker would lead with that in the first seven minutes. — Bill Simmons
  • The chips note is mocked as 'hey guys, I'm super sunburned, but good news, 80,000 chips right here'; nobody recalls them being in Barstow getting chips, and the money presumably gets split four ways.
  • The room damage, carried over from unanswerable questions, would be 20K easy or 20 to 50, given Vegas charges 11 dollars for a water bottle and hundreds for a broken lamp, and they definitely got soaked on the second night; it is also hard to believe the tiger never shit in the bathroom, excused as a road game and no morning coffee yet.
  • One host's biggest nitpick, bigger than any tiger issue, is that a huge wedding on a Sunday has no rehearsal dinner.
  • When Ed Helms hangs up on his girlfriend from the back of the cop car she would definitely be calling the Las Vegas people and the fiancee for the next three hours, since she thinks they are in wine country; the idea of calling to say you will be a day late might fit the payphone era, but this was 2009 not 1999, everyone has cell phones and there is texting in the movie, so bad job on tigers and texting, great job on everything else; there is definitely a rehearsal dinner that Saturday.
  • The Sunday outdoor wedding at somebody's house is ludicrous; nobody gets married on a Sunday unless they are saving money, which is called bullshit and a money save, and Craig is told no getting married on a Sunday.
  • Earlier, during what aged worst, the fiancee accepting the guys staying an extra night and getting back the day of the wedding was flagged and deferred to nitpicks.
  • Whether Stu, Doug and Phil are really friends was earmarked for the nitpicks: it is a weird threesome, and the guess is Doug was friends with each separately and united them.
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1:15:26

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Is there a real drug that blacks you out yet keeps you having fun for eight hours? Does Alan die when Tyson hits him?...

Is there a real drug that blacks you out yet keeps you having fun for eight hours? Does Alan die when Tyson hits him? Should The Hangover 2 have been a blackjack card-counting movie? What was the room damage bill?

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:15:26Read transcript
  • Is there a real drug that makes you black out while having this much fun for eight or nine hours straight: no, that is not how being roofied works, it knocks you out rather than keeping you up; the movie says Rufalin (as transcribed) rather than rehypnol (as transcribed), perhaps because they could not name it, an ecstasy version of a blackout drug.
  • Does Alan die when Tyson hits him: the hosts cannot believe he gets up, since Iron Mike even now could put somebody in the hospital; a generation has had triple-digit conversations about whether you could take a punch from Mike Tyson, which the movie captures perfectly, and his getting up with the worst shiner in history is paired with 'Ollie getting up from Frasier' (as transcribed) as the two greatest get-ups.
  • Should The Hangover 2 have been a blackjack card-counting movie rather than going to Thailand; the questioner is proud of it and the group imagines the casinos chasing them.
  • The room damage question was originally filed under unanswerable questions and handled during nitpicks instead.
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