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A comedy with no big stars, depicting the aftermath of a drunken stag party in Las Vegas has tickled cinema audiences around the world. Director Todd Phillips tells FOCUS how he did it.
Comedy, Todd Phillips says in a tone of earnest seriousness, is not maths; it's jazz. Of course you can see what he means, there is no reliable formula that will produce a funny film, or for any successful movie come to that.
What makes you laugh is a purely subjective thing, but the talent of men like Phillips comes with his ability to tap into the weird alchemy that comes from developing a humorous idea and turning it into something hilarious.
The 38 year old New Yorker has, above all, shown an abiding interest in male relationships, ideas he explored in popular comic movies Road Trip and Old School, and examined further in Starsky & Hutch movie and School For Scoundrels.
Yet none of these captured the pre-release buzz around The Hangover which, despite having no big name stars attached to it, and possessing a very simple premise of a drunken Las Vegas stag do gone awry was already being talked up as a potential franchise.
"The exciting thing for me is that it’s the second highest grossing R-rated comedy of all time," Phillips beams. "I mean in the history of R-rated comedies like Wedding Crashers and Pineapple Express and Knocked Up and all those great movies, The Hangover made the most except for Sex And The City. Which, by the way, I didn't know was a comedy."
Despite this the much touted sequel is by no means a certainty, it will depend on the international performance of a film that has already posted big numbers at the US box office.
"International is a huge part of the movie business nowadays, and this movie has to work on a global level. I don't mean it has to be a phenomenon like Harry Potter, but you want to make sure you're not just making a movie for American audiences, that this movie can translate to all territories."
And one measure of how it might do that is how well the premise works in those other countries, from the idea of the last night of freedom for an engaged man to the carefully manufactured venue of Las Vegas.
"This is truly the one part that troubles me about the movie internationally, America is such an uptight society that we have to have a whole city where we can go and behave differently to how we normally behave.
"There's a million alter egos walking around Las Vegas because nobody's acting like themselves. In Europe you guys are relaxed enough and open minded enough to sort of be yourselves, on the whole.
"But Las Vegas is a funny place because all these alter egos show up and make bad decisions, and I think it's really ripe for comedy. When you go to New York you’re still behaving like yourself, but in Vegas for some reason you just become an animal."
As the gambling capital of America it's a little ironic that Warner Bros. have enjoyed so much success with a film which, in studio financing terms, is a modestly budgeted comedy.
In part this is to do with the choice of cast of Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Justin Bartha and Zach Galifianakis. Some are recognisable, but until now none are 'names' yet each seamlessly inhabits their respective characters.
"I think it's part of the reason why it's actually working," nods Phillips. "If we'd cast Jack Black instead of Zach, or Ben Stiller instead of Bradley, there's some kind of baggage that comes with those actors.
"I'm not even talking about what they bring, but audiences bring baggage. I just think that whole attitude is infectious and in a weird way makes the movie feel more real and makes it feel like a discovery for people, and helps this movie connect in a way."
Skirting boundaries of taste at times, there are moments when you laugh but feel perhaps you shouldn't, The Hangover is a raucous comedy with a warm heart beating underneath. And Mike Tyson, who had the rare privilege of being directed by Phillips in the correct way to deliver a punch on camera.
In an ad lib to rival any of the laughs in the movie 'Iron Mike' is reported to have said; 'I can't believe the captain of the high school debate team is teaching me to throw a punch!'. Fortunately Tyson was an avowed fan of Phillips' work, particularly Old School, and was delighted to send up his public image.
But in the end the jazz riffs of Todd Phillips' comedy are about such bravely chosen moments, of the bold and the foolhardy going where others fear to tread and drawing big laughs as a result.
"I don't think you can ever edit yourself when you're making a comedy," Phillips adds, "not until you're actually in the editing room. There's an excitement that comes when you go to places like that, when people feel like there's a little bit of a danger to the comedy.
"When you start showing it to an audience you get a sense of whether you're losing them or if they're just like 'oh my God, this is a movie where anything can happen, I'm going to stay with it,'."
ANWAR BRETT
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