By Monday, Bradley Cooper will finally be considered a leading man in Hollywood. By Wednesday, writers for "The Office" will be penciling in more lines for Ed Helms' character, Andy Bernard, for the show's upcoming season. By next weekend, Zack Galifianakis will be the new golden boy of comedy, quoted constantly by men aged 18-30 in living rooms, malls, bars and bowling alleys all over the country.

Yes, "The Hangover" is that good. It remarkably balances elements of the crazy buddy journey movies (such as the "Harold and Kumar" films, "Pineapple Express," "Sex Drive" and "Road Trip"), the one-liner wonders (most films starring Will Ferrell and "Superbad"), and the insightful, but raunchy Apatow comedies of recent years ("The 40-Year-Old Virgin" and "Knocked Up") in a way that no comedy has before. Even with Sacha Baron Cohen's "Brüno" coming to theaters next month, I feel confident in saying "The Hangover" will be the funniest movie of 2009.

The film's premise is basic enough. Doug (Justin Bartha) is going to get married in two days. But first, he drives to Las Vegas with his best friends Phil and Stu (Cooper, Helms) and Doug's soon-to-be brother-in-law, Alan (Galifianakis), for a big bachelor blowout. To start the night, the guys venture to the roof of the Caesars Palace Hotel where Alan gives a very memorable (and hilarious) speech to his new friends and the four guys take their first round of shots.

In the very next scene, Phil, Stu and Alan come out of their alcohol-induced comas in their hotel villa. The room is trashed like no other and they barely remember a thing. Even worse, Doug has vanished and his phone is in the room. From there, the three dazed friends try to piece together the night's previous events to find him.

The acting is good, but it's not great. The plot is fine, but simple. What makes this film so enjoyable is the chemistry between Cooper, Helms and Galifianakis, despite the three characters being so drastically different. Cooper plays the cool, level-headed leader of the group who will try anything to find Doug. Helms, on the other hand, is whiny and conservative because he is firmly in the grasp of his girlfriend's iron fist.

And as Alan Garner, Galifianakis has created the kind of iconic oddball character that only comes around every few years. It's hard to tell if he's an idiot or a genius, but one thing I can guarantee you is that you have never seen a character like him in any movie before. Some of his lines are absolutely hilarious, but what's more impressive is that all of them are perfectly delivered. Galifianakis' role is one of the funniest of all time.

A lot of movie-goers will pass on "The Hangover" because it looks re-hashed. The commercials and trailers make it look like the same ol' tale of a group of "cool" guys and "weirdos" going on a kooky adventure full of unrealistic events.

Don't be fooled!

"The Hangover" gets funnier and funnier as it goes (Yes, that means that the ending is the best part of the movie). It has a few improvised lines, but not too many. There are some hilarious disasters, but not so many that it becomes predictable. And yes, there is plenty of sophomoric male humor to go around, but the ladies will laugh just as much. "The Hangover" has everything an excellent comedy should and shouldn't have.