Emasculating women, wild cats, and babies: The Hangover's cinematic heritage

In its crude, drunken way, The Hangover is a subversive treat for guys. The storyline is simple: four men enjoy a decadent bachelor party one night in Las Vegas, but when the next morning comes around, none of them remember what happened the night before, and the groom-to-be Doug (Justin Bartha) is missing (not to mention there's also a mysterious tiger in the bathroom, the wreckage of their Caesars Palace villa, the stolen police car, and the fact that Stu (Ed Helms) seems to have gotten married to a stripper played by Heather Graham).

Probably many viewers caught the reference to Rain Man in the scene where the goofy Alan Garner (Zach Galifianakis) suddenly and unrealistically acquires the ability to count cards, because the image of him descending the escalator with Phil Wenneck (Bradley Cooper),

directly alludes to a similar moment with Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise in Rain Man (1988):

But you have to go all the way back to 1938 and Howard Hawks' Bringing Up Baby to find the model for the dentist Stu Price (Ed Helms) and his emasculating girlfriend Melissa (Rachael Harris):

At the beginning of Hangover, Melissa undermines Stu by making sure he brings Rogaine for his hair on his trip. Stu is so fearful of Melissa, he tells her that he's going to Napa Valley for a wine-tasting convention instead of to Las Vegas. Much of the dramatic arc of The Hangover consists of Stu gradually learning to get over this controlling woman. Similarly, in Bringing Up Baby, the film begins with paleontologist Dr. David Huxley learning from his fiancee that they will not have "time" to have a honeymoon, and they cannot have any "domestic entanglements of any kind." As Stu and David learn to find their masculinity through a journey, in both cases a wild animal plays a role.

In Bringing Up Baby, Katherine Hepburn brings along a leopard:

And in The Hangover, Stu deals with a tiger in much the same fashion:

At other times, I wondered--was this scene,

referring to 1983's 3 Men and a Baby? In both films, circumstances force three inept guys to take care of a stranded baby:

And then there's the family resemblance between The Hangover,

and Kevin Reynolds' 1985 road film Fandango:

In Fandango, one of Kevin Costner's earlier and better movies, five fraternity brothers have just graduated from the University of Texas in 1971. They all impulsively decide to take off across the Texas desert in a Cadillac in a quest for the mysterious "Dom." As the group's leader, Costner's character Gardner very much resembles Bradley Cooper. Also, Judd Nelson plays an anal fellow named Phil, who wears glasses, and who kind of resembles Stu in his inability to have any fun. Like Stu, Phil spends much of the movie arguing about things instead of enjoying the adventure:

Phil eventually also finds his masculinity by jumping out of a plane. Curiously, both films include a bearded pudgy goofball amongst the characters.

Several of the desert scenes in The Hangover reminded me strongly of Fandango:

Doug, the fiance, gets the keys to a gorgeous mint-condition '69 silver Mercedes convertible for his wife-to-be's rich father, who gives it to him with the condition that only he will drive it. This whole source of anxiety brings to mind a similarly threatened red Ferrari in Ferris Bueller's Day Off:

Not to mention Dude, Where's My Car (2000) and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) as mentioned in Adam's Rosenberg's post on The Mtv Blog.

So, what have we learned?

In terms of women in movies who help men regain their masculinity, we have moved from this,

to this,

And even though Heather Graham's character has no particular reason to fall for Stu, she can still use the career boost of appearing in this year's sleeper summer hit The Hangover.