Tuesday, June 30, 2009

The Hangover = Platitudinous Pabulum

The pretentious title of this post was made possible with the help of a thesaurus. It needed that extra little umph to get across my snobbery for this movie. I swear I've never used either of those words in real conversation in my life.

The night started with french onion soups at The Keg. After I told the waitress we need the bill asap because Husband and I were catching a movie, she asked "what movie are you going to see?" I found myself embarrassed to tell her. I answered sheepishly, "The Hangover" with a roll of my eyes. I was bracing for her to scold me and ask why I didn't have better things to do with my time. Instead, her eyes lit up and she said "oh, it's so good! You're going to have a great time." This was, it turned out, a very common feeling. Husband and I had been hearing buzz about The Hangover from friends to strangers at the gym. One acquaintance said she woke up in the middle of the night still laughing. Normally, this is not the kind of movie we would voluntarily attend but since it was getting "good reviews", we were game.

It was exactly what I was dreading it was going to be. Garbage. This movie played out EXACTLY how I thought it would (juvenile, ridiculous and gratuitous) and nothing more. It was predictable, badly acted and we found the jokes forced. I got no belly laughs. Just chuckles. Chuckles don't pass the muster.

Don't misjudge me here. I love stupid movies as much as the next guy. One of my recent faves was Tropic Thunder. I was laughing long after the movie ended. Now, I know this was not the common consensus. That's why I have appreciation for the wide spectrum of movie fancies out there. And therefore, I will not judge others for their crappy taste.

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