Our national treasure.
I was feeling pretty good going into my Memorial Day weekend screening of The Hangover: Part III . It was a beautiful weekend across the U.S. of A. Warm sun, cool breeze, and veggie burgers on the grill. After I had my fill of Americana, I made my way down the highway to the local cinema, shouting “The Wolfpack is back! Yes!” out the window for the duration of the short journey.
My optimism was soon proven to be well-founded. Zach Galifianakis, reprising his role as the affable retard Alan, dominates the screen in the first act, and puts in some of the best work of his career. Alan’s father dies in his presence, sending him into an emotional tailspin. The Wolfpack decides to send Alan off to an intervention to get him back on his meds, re-uniting the four of them on a road trip to Arizona.
On the lonely highway, they are carjacked by gang-leader Marshall, thereby introducing John Goodman to Hangover lure. Marshall, though surely only conceived of during development of the third movie, has a backstory convincing enough to make you believe he was a central player all along. He was apparently firmly entangled in the actions of Black Doug and Leslie Chow throughout the first two films. Leslie Chow owes Marshall $21 million, compelling the latter to insist that the Wolfpack retrieve Chow and the loot. As collateral, Marshall takes natural-skinned Doug hostage, thereby once again ensuring minimal screen time for perennial sidekick Justin Bartha.
The direction and writing in the movie’s early scenes are fitting for its place in the trilogy. The Wolfpack is quiet, subdued, perhaps having learned the lessons of their past debauchery. The first act comes across as a calm before the storm, resetting all of the characters and putting the events of the first two Hangovers firmly in the rearview mirror. Enter the unexpected highway kidnapping, and surely things are now setup for an epic caper finale. Maybe The Hangover will get proper catharsis, and not just be remembered as one really good movie followed by two botched hysterectomies.
Remember when I said I was optimistic. Imagine how high I feel now, with the Hangover franchise apparently re-invigorated before my very eyes, following a Part II that forced me to forget everything that happened in 2011 (as far as I’m concerned, Nate Dogg lives). Well, I should have done what I always do when I start feeling good about the future… remind myself that it didn’t work out too well for Krakow when Neville Chamberlain decided to be optimistic about Hitler in ’39. Let’s just say it took a few years before you could find any good pierogi.
Phil, Stu, and Alan begin their pursuit of Leslie through Mexico and Vegas, with Ken Jeong effectively becoming the lead actor in the film. He is ineffective. The script stops being funny for all of the characters, with all of the good stuff apparently spent up. Jeong says his unfunny lines with a stereotypical Oriental accent; as a man who once knew of some Asian-Americans, I found his portrayal offensive. Phil and Stu, seemingly afterthoughts throughout the film, attempt to assert themselves as the movie reaches its conclusion, but their efforts are fruitless. The comedy permeating Alan’s saga in the first act never re-emerges and, worst of all, there is no ending to speak of, save for some sort of feel good lovey-dove story between Alan and a Vegas pawn shop owner, portrayed by Melissa McCarthy (an obese actress). It falls completely flat, and as the Wolfpack exits stage left, one feels a sense of loss over this huge missed opportunity, and not over the fact that we’ll never see them again.
At its best (i.e. the beginning), Part 3 is miles ahead of Part 2. But for much of its remainder, it struggles to top even that soul-crusher of a movie. This paltry efforts of the second and third film combined imply that the entire trilogy was primarily a well-executed money-grab and secondarily an artistic endeavor. Though I guess one should expect no different from director Todd Phillips . Chalk up another win for the One Percent. What a country, huh? Memorial Day is coming to a close now and it’s time to take down my American flag. I only hope I can muster a reason to ever put it back up again.
