Entry 12 - Comparing Films

British film – “Run Fatboy Fun”

Run Fatboy Run is a 2007 British romantic comedy film directed by David Schwimmer, written by Michael Ian Black and Simon Pegg, and starring Simon Pegg, Dylan Moran, Thandie Newton, Harish Patel, India de Beaufort and Hank Azaria.
It was released in the UK on 7 September 2007, in Canada on 10 September 2007 and in the United States on 28 March 2008.

Critical reception
The film received mixed reviews from critics. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 48% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 142 reviews. Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 48 out of 100, based on 27 reviews. Box office performance
The film topped the UK box office in its opening week and remained at the top of the chart for four straight weeks. To date it has earned over £10.5 million. In the United States, the film enjoyed more limited success. On its opening weekend, it grossed about $2.3 million. As of May 1, 2008, the film has grossed $5,946,628 with a foreign gross of $29,039,566 making $34,986,194 as its international gross.


American film – “The Hangover

The Hangover is a 2009 comedy film directed by Todd Phillips, written by Jon Lucas and produced by Todd Phillips and Daniel Goldberg. The movie was made for Warner Bros. Productions and made by Legendary Pictures. The film stars Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha, and Heather Graham.

Box office
The Hangover proved to be very successful financially. On its first day of release, the film drew an estimated $16.5 million on approximately 4,500 screens at 3,269 sites, beating out the big budgeted Land of the Lost — the other major new release of the weekend — for first day take.
Since its release, the film has earned $275.3 million domestically and $182.1 million internationally, for a worldwide total of $457.4 million, making it the highest-grossing R-rated comedy ever in the United States (second when accounting for inflation), surpassing a record previously held by Beverly Hills Cop for almost 25 years.

Response
The Hangover has received primarily positive reviews. It holds a 78% positive response rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on 193 professional reviews, with the consensus that "with a clever script and hilarious interplay among the cast, The Hangover nails just the right tone of raunchy humor, and the non-stop laughs overshadow any flaw." Film critic Roger Ebert gave it three and a half stars out of four, stating "Now this is what I'm talkin' about. The Hangover is a funny movie, flat out, all the way through. Its setup is funny. Every situation is funny. Most of the dialogue is funny almost line by line."

Although widely critically praised, many critics have noted the weak character development, especially in its female characters[22]. Ebert, despite his praise, writes "I won't go so far as to describe it as a character study" but that the film is more than the sum of its parts - parts that may at first seem a little generic or clichéd,[23] since many other films (such as Very Bad Things) have already explored the idea of a weekend in Vegas gone wrong. Critics also complained about racial stereotyping, in particular the Asian gangster.[24]