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A stag weekend gone wrong is the basis for a surprising amount of comic depth, minus the excesses of the Hangover franchise

Owing a debt to the creaky Brit-pic Staggered in which Martin Clunes woke up bollock naked on a remote island on the eve of his wedding, this innocuous but good-hearted Irish comedy finds a misfit group of men going native in the woods when a fussy groom is strong-armed into a stag weekend by his altogether more forceful bride. The fly in the ointment is his future brother-in-law, a destructive irritant played with more comic depth than you might expect by co-writer Peter McDonald.

Inevitably relieved of their clothes, the men bicker and bond, with old rivalries and new acceptances blossoming among the bared buttocks and breast beatings. A long-running gag about the awfulness of U2 turns out to have a disappointingly soft centre (Bono would approve, which...

A stag weekend gone wrong is the basis for a surprising amount of comic depth, minus the excesses of the Hangover franchise

Owing a debt to the creaky Brit-pic Staggered in which Martin Clunes woke up bollock naked on a remote island on the eve of his wedding, this innocuous but good-hearted Irish comedy finds a misfit group of men going native in the woods when a fussy groom is strong-armed into a stag weekend by his altogether more forceful bride. The fly in the ointment is his future brother-in-law, a destructive irritant played with more comic depth than you might expect by co-writer Peter McDonald.

Inevitably relieved of their clothes, the men bicker and bond, with old rivalries and new acceptances blossoming among the bared buttocks and breast beatings. A long-running gag about the awfulness of U2 turns out to have a disappointingly soft centre (Bono would approve, which...

As two of Den of Geek’s writers prepare to tie the knot, we find out what the movies can teach us about weddings and marriages…

You’re going to have to forgive us a mighty indulgence today, friends, as this weekend, two of Den Of Geek’s finest are tying the knot.

Serial Jason Statham aggravator Duncan Bowles is marrying Robert Downey Jr botherer Rachel Trippitt, in a wedding for which we pitched literally pounds for the rights to. Sadly, they knocked us back, muttering something about “restraining orders” and “bloody good security”.

Nevertheless, we felt we should still pay them a tribute.

Here, then, is the official Den Of Geek guide to movie weddings and marriages, which is dedicated to the mighty Duncan and the majestic Rachel. May you have many long and happy years together, something you can increase your chances of by following our top tips right here…...

The stag party that goes disastrously wrong is a movie commonplace. Think of Staggered (imminent groom Martin Clunes wakes up naked on a distant Scottish island) and the even less funny Very Bad Things (prostitute accidentally dies as pre-wedding revellers frolic in Las Vegas). But two years ago the writers and director of The Hangover had a major financial and critical success after adding amnesia to the stag party plot. Three chums wake up in Vegas to discover that a trail of terrible mishaps the night before included a run-in with the mob, a marriage, a stolen police car and a missing groom who had to be delivered in Los Angeles the following day. Childish stuff in the Animal House/American Pie manner, but gloriously, inventively funny.

The Hangover Part II sees the same ingredients shaken up in the kaleidoscope, but a less attractive and far less amusing pattern emerges.