The Hangover might be one of the funniest comedies of the year, and Latinoreview wants to make sure you're hyped up about Todd Phillips' latest by giving you a hangover all week long!
Two days before his wedding, Doug (Justin Bartha) and his three friends drive to Las Vegas for a blow-out bachelor party they'll never forget. But, in fact, when the three groomsmen wake up the next morning, they can't remember a thing. For some reason, they find a tiger in the bathroom and a six-month-old baby in the closet of their suite at Caesars Palace. The one thing they can't find is Doug. With no clue as to what transpired and little time to spare, the trio must retrace their hazy steps and all their bad decisions in order to figure out where things went wrong and hopefully get Doug back to L.A. in time to walk down the aisle.
Yesterday's coverage kicked off the aches and pains with an interview featuring the lovely Heather Graham, and continues with Justin Bartha.
In this roundtable interview, Justin talks to us journos about his character in the movie, working with his co-stars, staying at Caesar's Palace, what he did in his off time, if National Treasure 3 is happening and don't miss the unplanned appearance by the co-stars as your hangover builds to a raging wtf? headache with Latinoreview's week long coverage of The Hangover!
So the other three guys are together doing press for this and you're by yourself. Why is that?
Bartha: I requested that. I don't like to do interviews with other people. It's like I'm too big of a star. There are certain things. I'm a divo.
How does that divo personality express itself in other ways, aside from giving interviews by yourself?
Bartha: Sometimes I like to crush computers over the heads of the owners.
That sounds mildly threatening.
Bartha: [laughs] Mildly. No. I have no divo attributes except for only drinking Ethos water. But that joke does not work on tape recorder.
When you were making the film did you know right from the start that this was going to be so funny?
Bartha: Well, I knew the right ingredients were there. The script was really strong. Todd Phillips I think is obviously one of the best comedy directors out there. Then there was a freshness to the cast. I've worked with Bradley [Cooper] a few times and I've been a fan of Zach's [Galifianakis] forever and of Ed [Helms]. I knew that people know who they are. They have fans, but as a mass audience people don't know them. It seems like comedies, especially Hollywood comedies you're just seeing the same people over and over. So there was something about the crew that was exciting. When we got to set and you started kind of laughing everyday and seeing the characters evolve and seeing the comedy evolve and seeing the way that Todd specifies every beat, there was a point somewhere halfway through shooting the movie where I just knew that it was going to be special.
You stayed at Caesar's and filmed there, too, in Las Vegas. There has to be a story or two about the debauchery behind the scenes.
Bartha: Oh, man, I wish that I had debauched stories. We were just working so hard. I mean, they were. I was just kind of drinking.
Ethos water?
Bartha: Yeah, exactly. I think that I maybe went out once. Zach and I went out once. We went to a nightclub and strangely enough Mike Tyson was there before we even started shooting. Mike was at the club by himself or with a couple of people he worked with and I got to meet him. So that's kind of the craziest thing that happen. See, all the crazy stuff happens in the movie and so you can't really top that in real life. In my real life I don't have tigers and babies and Mike Tyson and naked Asian gangsters jumping out of trunks and strippers with hearts of gold. I don't have that in my life. That's why I do movies.
Was it weird filming at Caesar's? And you were staying there?
Bartha: Yeah. We were staying at Caesar's the entire time. It's weird. Caesar's is a great place but it's weird because it's just so huge and you go a month staying here and never go outside. You don't realize it. So after a couple of weeks you go, 'Wait a minute. I haven't seen the real sun in a couple of weeks. Only The Forum shops.' It's a bizarre place, but Vegas is one of the most bizarre places on the face of the planet so it fits.
What do you like to do here?
Bartha: Gamble. Drink. I like to play poker, blackjack, baccarat and Pai Gow, three card poker. Slots. I like to bet on how long the elevator will take from the lobby to my room. I like to make fun of tourists.
Did you take in any other shows?
Bartha: I did. I went to see Donnie and Marie quite a bit. I would get Bette Midler and Cher. I'd do like a weekly rotation because I had a lot of time off. So I'd go Donnie and Marie, Bette Midler, Cher, Tom Stevens. You probably don't know who that is, but you will. Then there was the Criss Angel show constantly.
It's already come out that they're developing a sequel to this. Is it weird to think the studio has that much faith in the project that they've already started talking about that?
Bartha: I don't think that's weird at all, honestly. I mean, have you seen the movie?
But is it weird to be thinking that you might be doing this again before the film has even come out?
Bartha: Yeah. I understand what you're saying. To be involved with this from the get go, it makes complete sense to me. Todd got a text, or someone got a text from a random person that had seen this screening and they said, 'You're movie is one of eight movies I'd want to be trapped on a desert island with.' It's one of those. It really is an instant classic comedy. It sounds cocky for me to say that, but that's just the way it is. It's just so good. There's this excitement with everyone involved, especially the studio who's really getting behind it and it makes sense that they'd want to do it again. Vegas, although it plays a character in this movie the guys are so strong and everyone in the cast and crew is so talented that really the comedy could happen anywhere.
Where would you like it to go if it wasn't in Vegas?
Bartha: Where would I like it to go? I'm a lazy guy. So somewhere within a mile radius of where I live in Los Angeles. But I think it could be funny anywhere really. Anywhere in the world it would be funny.
Has there been any talk or movement on another 'National Treasure', speaking of sequels?
Bartha: Yeah. I mean, they've been working on the script for quite a while, I think. Those movies take a long time to develop just because they're so big and they want to try and keep it fresh in some way.
I thought at one time there was going to be like an International Treasure.
Bartha: We kind of did that in the second one. We went to Paris and London. But we'll see. I think that there's a science to those movies that [Jerry] Bruckheimer would be the right person to ask that of. But I know that they're working on it.
Are you automatically signed for a third one?
Bartha: We'll see. It just depends on what the script is like and if Jerry's gun is loaded.
I'm curious about 'New York, I love You'. I know it's a lot of people doing shorts. Can you talk about what you did in that?
Bartha: 'New York, I love You' is the New York version of 'Paris je t'aime' and it's a group of shorts by different directors and then in between the shorts there are short shorts, transitions between those shorts. So I did a section which I believe opens the movie with Bradley Cooper. Again. Bradley Cooper and I have a little short we do together at the beginning and then I have a little mini love story with a young actress named Eva Amurri that is in the movie somewhere. I haven't seen that.
Susan Sarandon's daughter?
Bartha: Exactly.
And that's opening October 9th or 10th, I believe.
Bartha: Yeah. I have no idea.
Those shorts range from straight drama to romantic comedy segments to even some supernatural segments. What sort of elements are in your bit?
Bartha: It's Bradley and I getting in a fight, fighting over a cat. I think that's our usual energy, just kind of fighting with each other.
This one is more connected than the Paris one.
Bartha: Yeah, exactly, and then I have a little mini thing, it's like a minute thing with Eva Amurri that's like a love story.
Is it more pressure telling a story in a minute or is it more exciting?
Bartha: I never really thought about it. It was just something that was fun to do, work with these guys. You kind of thought of who the character would be and you just kind of do it. I think for the 'New York, I love You' thing, literally Bradley and I wrote the scene an hour before we shot it and then we did it. It was one of those things. It was kind of a loose thing that we did together.
So you filmed that before 'The Hangover'?
Bartha: I was filming a movie in New York called 'The Rebound' with Catherine Zeta-Jones and then I did 'New York, I Love You' at the same time on my time off. It was a few days. It took like a week to do that.
What's going on with 'Longtime Gone' and 'Holy Rollers'?
Bartha: 'Holy Rollers' I made. We finished in February. It's a little indie drama. It's a different character than I've played before. I was a bad guy, a pretty intense guy who's a drug addict and a drug dealer. It's still kind of funny. It's about Hasidic Jewish drug dealers in the mid '90's and it's with myself and Jesse Eisenberg. The other one is just something that I'm kind of signed onto and it hasn't come to fruition yet.
What's 'Rebound' about?
Bartha: 'Rebound' is a romantic comedy with myself and Catherine Zeta-Jones. It's in New York, a romantic comedy directed by Bart Freundlich. That should come out later on in the year. I start taking care of her kids and then we have a love story together.
You're a nanny?
Bartha: A manny.
Was there any point in the film of this where you were disappointed to not be a part of some of the onscreen shenanigans?
Bartha: Not really. I'm a pretty lazy guy. So for me it was like I got to cash checks and then not work and then still got to watch these hilarious guys do their thing. I mean, I loved hanging out with them and working with them. So I did miss them when I wasn't with them, but it was a different and fun experience for me. I just wanted to be involved with this movie. I mean, the people are just so talented. At this point I like to pick movies that I know are going to be hits. I'm very choosy. I'm not like one of those actors where I will only do a movie that's an intense character. No. I only want to be in hits. I know how this industry works. I know how to get my foreign sales up. I only want to be in movies that are going to make a lot of money and that are really good and that people will watch. So there. There's an honest answer for you.
Do you think underneath the humor of this film there's a message about men and marriage?
Bartha: I think it says more about men than men and marriage. I think there's definitely…you can read into this movie for days. I mean, it could be about the economy. It could be about the anxiety of men. It could talk about homosexuality. Who knows?
How could it be about the economy? How could it be about homosexuality?
Bartha: I just said it could be. I didn't say it is.
I'm interested in that interpretation.
Bartha: Well, Vegas. It's about everything going to shit in this land of excess. I think that any movie with a group of guys and not a lot of women is about homosexuality.
Do you get burned out on Vegas after a while?
Bartha: After a while?
A day?
Bartha: Yeah. I mean, I would come to Vegas for a couple of nights throughout my life and you're always like, 'Wow. One night too many.' I was here for a month and a half on this. In Vegas time that's about four years.
What about the chicken?
Bartha: Exactly.
It's not really explained in this movie.
Bartha: Exactly.
What's your theory on the chicken and how it got into their room?
Bartha: Well, all I'll say is George Bush. We're talking about metaphors.
When did you shoot the photo montages?
Bartha: The photo montages were kind of shot throughout the shoot. It was so much fun. So you'd get a call and they'd be like, 'Okay. We're going downtown Vegas. You're going to hold a shotgun and be on a police car.' I was like, 'Is that allowed? I know we're shooting a movie, but are you allowed to shoot a shotgun in the middle of Las Vegas.' They were like, 'Yep. Happens all the time.' I was like, 'Okay.' 'Go to a strip club.' I said, 'I'm already here. Just bring the camera.'
Do you have any favorite bits in the film?
Bartha: It's so hard to pick. It's nonstop for me, but I really loved that actor Ken Jeong who plays the Asian gangster. For me the little scene where he pops out of the trunk naked and beats up the guys and runs away is just hilarious. They're reaction to that after he runs away, I just think that's the funniest thing. It's like, 'What just happened?' I love that.
Do you think that people are looking for this kind of comedy?
Bartha: Yeah. Not to sound cliché, but I think that people want to laugh. Even though this is a straight comedy it's just from beginning to end hilarious. I think that's something that I want to see. If I wasn't in this movie I would go see this movie opening night. I mean, that's what I want to watch. It is kind of the anti-Apatow movie in the sense where Apatow, as great as those movies are, all the comedies seem to be in that vein and this is something different with a different cast. It's a different brand of comedy. It doesn't have as much irony. It's just funny, aggressively funny.
When you were a kid were you nervous before the first day of the school year?
Bartha: Oh, always. I still get nervous every time I leave my house. Yes, absolutely especially because I got made fun of. I was just talking about this last night with my brother. I got made fun of a lot and got picked on when I was a kid. So, yeah, I was always nervous to go to school.
Why did you get picked on?
Bartha: Why? Because kids are cruel. I don't know. I never thought about it.
Do you friends like the guys in this film, always breaking their buddy's balls?
Bartha: Yeah, in a sense. My guy friends aren't that big of idiots. I definitely have some friends that like to have a good time and enjoy the crazier things in life.
Is the rehearsal process on a comedy different from making a drama?
Bartha: Well, there really wasn't any rehearsal process for this movie. I think that's a testament to Todd, too. I'm pretty sure he believes that casting is most of a comedy. He was rigorous in his casting choices for this movie. There were specific people that he wanted and his vision was it. So once he got the cast that he wanted in place I think he put the power into those performer's hands and the rehearsals kind of happened organically on set. The script would evolve through improvisation into something else everyday. I think this kind of comedy, you can't always plan it. It has to happen from the moment, from the energy of what's happening between the characters.
Did you ever have a 'one take and done' situation or was it always fifty takes?
Bartha: It was always usually somewhere in between. He doesn't really, Todd, do a lot of takes of me. He's like a mad genius this guy, Todd Phillips. He always knows where the comedy is going to come. So if it hasn't exactly happened, even if the actors think it has he pushes you a little further and gets something more. So he knows when he's got it. But he never really takes fifty takes. Somewhere in between.
Is his direction a word or two or is it more specific notes?
Bartha: Like if you try something he'll usually be like, 'No.' Or if someone tries something that he likes and he can tweak it a little he'll know exactly how to tweak it. I don't know how he does what he does, but that's why he's one of the best.
[Ed Helms & Zach Galifianakis enter the room]
Bartha: Will you shut up! Ed, no. Guys. Come on, man. I'm still –
Is there anything we should know about the two of them before they come into the room?
Bartha: They're gay.
Take a nap and return tomorrow to read my review of The Hangover as the stomach ache continues here at Latinoreview!
