Keep it Tight

I recently re-watched The Hangover for the first time in a few years. It was just as fantastic and hilarious as the first time I watched it, aging extremely well. Having not seen it for some while, it all seemed new again, even though I’ve seen it numerous times. It still nails every moment.

While watching it, it was so pleasing how how funny and great the entire film continues to be, even after all this time. I then started to analyze it and break down what it does right and makes it hold up so well, something I do a lot when watching something great on repeat viewings. The odd thing about this movie was, I couldn’t nail it down with anything.

Anything as far as speicific story and characters choices. There was the detective story framing and there are obviously choices made by the filmmakers regarding chacter and plot. But when it comes down to it, this was just a tightly written movie, that had a single goal, some funny jokes, and moved its characters from one scene to the next with continuing escalation, effortlessly.

That’s it. This made me realize that sometimes a movie works, just because it works. It’s not following any specific rules or even standard principals. It just kept it simple, kept it tight, and have some really funny jokes.

When I’m bogged down twisting myself to repurpose or twist a genre, it is refreshing to know that sometimes, you just need to keep it simple and tight.