The Hangover Part III

Cast of Characters:
Phil Wenneck - Bradley Cooper
Dr. Stuart “Stu” Price - Ed Helms
Alan Garner - Zach Galifianakis
Leslie Chow - Ken Jeong
Jade - Heather Graham
Sid Garner - Jeffrey Tambor
Doug Billings - Justin Bartha
Marshall - John Goodman

Director - Todd Phillips
Screenplay - Todd Phillips & Craig Mazin
Rated R for pervasive language including sexual references, some violence and drug content, and brief graphic nudity

      2009's The Hangover was one of the surprise hits of that year. It further propelled Bradley Cooper into leading man status, gave Ed Helms (who already had success as Andy Bernard on TV’s The Office) a springboard for his film career, and pushed Zach Galifianakis into mainstream comic acting success. Following 2011's sequel, Phil, Stu, and Alan - or should I say, the Wolfpack - are back in the third and final entry in the dark comedy series, The Hangover Part III.

      After causing a horrendous highway accident that winds up making top story headlines on almost every media outlet, Alan Garner (Zach Galifianakis) is given the tough reality check by his friends and family that he needs to enter rehab. This was made particularly clear to those close to Alan after his not so sober speech at his father Sid Garner’s (Jeffrey Tambor) funeral. At first, Alan is stubborn and refuses to go; however, he winds up changing his mind, but only on the condition that the rest of the Wolfpack take him there. Finally agreeing to go, Alan heads off to a rehab facility in Arizona with his gang, Phil Wenneck (Bradley Cooper), Stu Price (Ed Helms), and his brother-in-law Doug Billings (Justin Bartha).

      On their way to the facility, however, they are run off the road by a group of thugs that blindfold and kidnap them. They awake to meet Marshall (John Goodman), a man who's name they recall from their first trip to Vegas back in The Hangover. Through pen pal letters between Alan and Leslie Chow (Ken Jeong), Marshall explains to them he discovered that Chow stole half of the gold he obtained in a $42 million heist. Holding Doug hostage, Marshall gives the Wolfpack an ultimatum: find the $21 million half that Chow stole, bring Chow to him, or Doug gets killed.

      I remember saying in my 21 & Over review that The Hangover wasn't a masterpiece comedy by any means, but it still was a laugh out loud comedy due to the comic chemistry between the three leads of Cooper, Helms, and Galifianakis. The Hangover Part II, while still funny, wasn't quite as good as the first simply 'cause it seemed like they were just running through the same formula. The Hangover Part III takes a completely different approach than the first two, even a bit more darker at times, and succeeds. There technically isn't a "hangover" moment here in the third entry, but that doesn't stop Cooper, Helms, and Galifianakis from playing off each other so well. Galifianakis once again proves to be the scene stealer here amongst the three, and it really wasn't until this film that I realized underneath the crazy, mentally unstable, and unorthodox antics of Alan Garner, there's an odd sweetness to his character - particularly in a scene involving a kid that I'll refrain from saying who. In spite of just how insanely crazy everything he says to Phil and Stu seems not just to them, but us the viewers as well, he still means what he says wholeheartedly. It's like he truly would be upset at the number of phone app download hours he'd have to re-spend if he lost his phone like Phil did. The always dependable John Goodman plays a terrific villain. Melissa McCarthy pops up in a cameo where both she and Galifianakis hit it spot on together, and there's one key moment on top of Caesar's Palace that contains a stunt that's excellently choreographed.

      I will admit, like with the past Hangover films, Ken Jeong's Leslie Chow wears on your nerves after a while. I can't quite fault the writers for that considering their intentions were clearly to make him obnoxious, 'cause that's what he is. I just sat there thinking if they somehow make a spinoff film focused on Chow (which I doubt), unlike these films, imagine how excruciating that would be to sit through. Despite Chow being in one or two more scenes than he should be, I don't quite get the hate for this film. Most of the criticism seems to be based on how "different" this film is from the others. So you didn't like the first sequel 'cause it was too much like the first, now you don't like this one 'cause it's too different? Come on. It's like "beggars can't be choosers" here. While not quite packing the surprising punch that came with the first, this is still slightly better than the second. I may be that lone voice in the wilderness, but who cares? I laughed quite a bit here. I give The Hangover Part III an A- (★★★½).

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