A bachelor party turns into a comic mystery when four buddies head off to Vegas only to wake up the next day to find that their hotel room is trashed, the groom is missing, and they can’t remember a damn thing.  Basically, it’s Dude, Where’s My Car?, replacing the macguffin car with a macguffin person.  But a concept is a concept, the concept works, and at times like this, depth in comedy isn’t nearly as important as comedy in comedy.

However, to that effect, it doesn’t seem full.  It keeps up a steady stream of jokes, all of which have the shameless abandon and commitment they need, but only some of which have the cleverness—a lot feels a bit easy, like yelling “dick” in a crowded theater.  And though it celebrates immaturity with energy, unlike the best R-rated comedies of late (Superbad, Wedding Crashers, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Borat) it doesn’t make that immaturity feel fresh, brash, surprising, liberating, or filthily witty.  When the jokes don’t land—though they often do—otherwise irrelevant non-comic issues become noticeable: the plotting lags; the sweetness at the end feels token (the most potentially heartfelt moments are given to characters with little screen time); and it’s hard to shake the feeling that Bradley Cooper’s character isn’t a lovable asshole but a garden variety one.  Plus, in the age of Judd Apatow and raunch-meets-sensitive, I do find it problematic when women appear only as emasculating shrews and re-masculating hotties.

But as a caper, it twists and turns nicely, and a lot of scenes/performances work well (an implausibly trashed hotel room!  Rob Riggle!).  There are enough nice touches filled in around the edge, while the credit sequence ends the film on a high note.  And any movie that gives talented lesser-known comics like Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis a chance to let loose in leading roles is alright.

3 out of 5 stars.