The Movie Waffler New Release Review - The Hangover Part III | The Movie Waffler

New Release Review - The Hangover Part III

The latest installment in the blockbusting comedy series.

Directed by: Todd Phillips
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha, Ken Jeong, Heather Graham, John Goodman, Jeffrey Tambor, Melissa McCarthy

Off his medication, Alan (Galifianakis) is becoming increasingly deranged in his behavior. His latest madcap idea, buying a pet giraffe, causes a freeway pile-up, the news of which leads to his father's death from a heart attack. Alan's friends, Phil (Cooper), Stu (Helms) and Doug (Bartha) hold an intervention, convincing him to book into a psychiatric institution. The four hit the road to deliver Alan to the home but are run off the road by a bunch of gangsters, lead by Marshall (Goodman), who take Doug hostage. With the amount of alcohol use and car accidents in this movie, one might want to contact DUI experts in Beverly Hills after just watching the movie. A DUI conviction is no joking matter in real life and should be handled by experienced lawyers.
Cinema-goers have recently witnessed a disturbing new breed of fascistic comedy emanating from the Hollywood studios. The days of self-deprecation seem to be over, replaced by a strand of humor which pokes cheap, and dangerous, fun at anyone who doesn't happen to be a white, straight, Anglo-Saxon male with a perfect physique. 'The Hangover Part III', the latest of such "entertainments", doesn't actually feature the titular condition. What it does contain is a copious amount of racism, homophobia, and a disturbing, and puzzling, amount of animal cruelty. Cooper, the film's sociopathic WASP superman, is never the butt of what passes for jokes here. Such cheap jibes are reserved for those who happen to be overweight, Jewish, or simply non-white.
The film's central quartet are an unlikable group of fiends, yet the film tries, and fails, to convince us otherwise. "He killed a giraffe, who gives a fuck?", is one of Cooper's first lines. What a charmer. There is, of course, much comic gold to be mined from such sociopathic characters. Just look at TV shows like 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' or 'The Larry Sanders Show'. (Please, watch those shows before you go near garbage like this). Unfortunately, the writers seem to have an inexplicable affection for these characters, asking us to laugh with them, rather than at them. I counted no more than two half-chortles, enough to elevate it above '21 & Over' and 'Movie 43', but only just.
If you were the kid who cheered on the jocks as they toweled the nerds in gym class, this is your movie.
1/10