“The Hangover” is absolutely historic.

It sets precedent, it raises the bar, it totally re-ups comedic standards. With the era of Sandler, Stiller and Ferrell over, Judd Apatow currently on his fourteenth minute and “Paul Blart” a bonafide hit, the comic cosmos has been in a catastrophic downfall. Director Todd Phillips (“Old School,” “Road Trip”) and three virtually no-name actors have rediscovered what genuinely makes Americans laugh.

You know what it’s about; three guys wake up hungover with no memory of the previous night and can’t find their friend, the groom of an imminent wedding. It’s simple enough and even borrows a few plot devices from the cinematic “treasure” “Dude, Where’s My Car?”

Of course, the trio embark on a typical day in Vegas getting shot at, meeting Mike Tyson and getting straddled by a naked, petite crime lord. There’s consistent laughter through all these situations, but the reason it does so well is because of Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis, the three leads who take boring, trite characters and turn them into unforgettable one-liner spouting machines.

Galifianakis leaves the biggest dent with awe-inducing sequences with a lost baby he aptly names Carlos. The 39-year-old actor has finally found the niche to turn his uncomfortable awkwardness into dare I say one of the funniest characters ever on the big screen.

The payoff from watching “The Hangover” comes just as the end credits hit the screen. The infamous, previously unseen bachelor party is told in a graphic photo montage loaded with famous facets of Sin City; alcohol, prostitutes and Wayne Newton. These two minutes are tax-return money good.

Sometimes a movie just comes along and strikes a nerve that makes you forget about the trash you had to sit through previously. “The Hangover” is that movie.

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