The Hangover Part III
Rated R
If it only seems like it was just yesterday we were introduced to The Wolfpack (Alan, Stu, Phil and Doug), it’s because it almost was yesterday. The Hangover only just came out in 2009, it’s sequel soon followed two years later and now in 2013, like clockwork, we have the final installment of “The Wolfpack Trilogy,” because nowadays everything is a trilogy. The Hangover Part III features all the characters you know and love (for lack of a better term) and even brings back those you’ve probably forgotten about, but the culmination of this little comedic saga is something far less familiar.
We open in a Thai prison where series trickster, the mischievous Leslie Chow (Ken Jeong) has just escaped. The scene is like something out of a cheesy ‘90s action film.
We then quickly cut to Alan (Zach Galifianakis) drinking a beer as he speeds down the freeway. Attached to his car is a trailer, which is transporting a giraffe (well, a computer generated giraffe). A low overpass beheads the giraffe causing a massive mult-car pileup in its wake. Alan seems miffed, but otherwise unaffected.
The rest of The Hangover Part III follows suit, juxtaposing weirdly dark comedy with elements of action, but it’s not a clean mesh of genres. Alan’s erratic behavior and refusal to take his medication leads his friends and family to call an intervention. The outcome of which is that Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms) and Doug (Justin Bartha) must make a two-day drive across the desert to transport Alan to a facility where he can receive the help he needs. But trouble follows The Wolfpack wherever they go, and along the way they’re abducted by Marshall (John Goodman), who’s involved in all kinds of nebulous criminal activity and is after Mr. Chow for stealing $21 million in gold that Marshall stole from a foreign royal. Marshall believes The Wolfpack is his only hope in finding Mr. Chow, so he holds Doug hostage and forces Stu, Phil and Alan to find the Chinese sociopath. The trail leads The Wolfpack to where else but Las Vegas. Along the way, there is a good deal of action, but the laughs are strangely absent.
The Hangover trilogy doesn’t stick to formula, which usually dictates that the second film in the series is the darkest. The Hangover Part III is quite dark. Though much like the previous two installments, our three heroes must band together to help a colleague, the consequences here are a bit more severe. Doug’s life is on the line whereas in the other films the guys might not have made it to a wedding in time. Marshall is not a man to be trifled with. There’ll be hell to pay if he doesn’t get his hands on Mr. Chow. Even Mr. Chow seems extra dangerous here. He’s not just a goofy villain, but a calculating, malicious force of chaos. At one point,
Marshall goes as far as to equate Mr. Chow to madness itself.
There are laughs, sure. Galifianakis has a great moment in a Las Vegas pawn store with the brilliant Melissa McCarthy, but this is one of the few light scenes in the film. This is a caper with more in common with True Romance than the past two Hangover movies. In one scene, Phil and Alan infiltrate Mr. Chow’s penthouse suite at Caesar’s Palace. Strobe lights flash as the two try to work their way through the room after room of debauchery as Black Sabbath plays ominously behind them (side note: the soundtrack for this movie is definitely worth a listen). It’s a trippy, dizzying and very exciting scene for the senses, but, like, where’s all that lowbrow humor, bro?
That’s the thing that bothers me the most about The Hangover Part III. I’ve seen each film in the series, but until this one, I didn’t realize I was supposed to actually care about these characters. Sure they’re lovable, but they’re all kind of jerks, right? That’s what makes them funny. Toward the film’s climax, Phil says to the rest of the trio, “This all ends tonight,” with such gravitas I couldn’t tell if it was meant to be ironic or not. Weren’t we all hanging out with Mike Tyson, getting face tattoos and taking incriminating photos while we were way too fucked up over the past four years? Suddenly it’s Frodo’s journey into Mordor or something. Dudes, this is way too intense for me. We’ll always be bros and all, but I’m kind of glad it’s time to say goodbye.
Due Date
The buddy picture is a time-tested Hollywood staple. From the Lethal Weapon franchise to Tango and Cash, there’s a certain draw to watching two polar opposites thrust into an impossible situation not entirely of their own making who have to overcome not only their bizarre circumstances but the differences between them as well. Now Robert Downey, Jr. and Zach Galifianakis can add their names to the pantheon of big screen buddies. While their film Due Date may not have the bang of the aforementioned Gibson/Glover or Stallone/Russell combos, Downey and Galifianakis provide plenty of onscreen fireworks, especially if you’re into masturbating dogs (who isn’t?).
Told in a brisk 90-or-so-minutes, Due Date follows a few days in the life of Ethan Tremblay (Galifianakis) and Peter Highman (Downey). Highman (a great pun of a name) is a high-powered businessman with a temper to match, while Tremblay is a hopeful actor. Their paths cross in Atlanta: Highman, in town on business, is anxious to get back to Los Angeles to witness the birth of his first child; Tremblay, who traveled to Atlanta for his father’s funeral, is heading west to pursue his dream of finding fame and fortune in Hollywood. When an on-plane incident puts both characters on the no-fly list, Tremblay and Highman are stuck driving cross-country together. Enter wackiness.
Due Date has a grocery list of cameos. Wu-tang Clan’s RZA plays an airport screener, Jamie Foxx appears as a big name football player and friend of Highman and Eastbound and Down’s Danny McBride is cast as an easily riled employee of a check cashing place; but make no mistake, this is Downey and Galifianakis’ vehicle, and unlike the characters they portray, both are capable behind the wheel. Downey is always a consummate pro. His Peter Highman isn’t a likable fellow. He loses his temper often and incessantly bullies the affable, though obnoxiously quirky Tremblay. He says awful things–often unapologetically–like questioning the legitimacy of McBride’s character’s tour in Iraq. Still, Downey manages to smooth out Highman’s rough edges just enough so that he’s someone worth pulling for. In his role, Galifianakis doesn’t stray too far from his cartoon-ish persona. He smokes weed, wears a perm, treats his French bulldog Sonny like a person and walks in an effeminate manner. Still, there’s more to Tremblay than just his quirks. In a scene in a rest stop bathroom, Galifianakis does a solid job turning on the water works while lamenting the death of Tremblay’s father. It’s just enough depth, but not so much that you have to struggle with too many feelings.
This isn’t new territory. It’s two guys who have no business being around one another stuck in a car, having madcap adventures as they careen across America. There are gunshots, car chases and plenty of slapstick. Sometimes there’s a reason films like this are formulaic–because it’s a formula that works.
Those who are coming to see Due Date on the strength of director Todd Phillips and Galifianakis’ work in last year’s The Hangover will not be disappointed. There are plenty instances of absurd and downright vile humor to appeal to viewers on a base and visceral level. However, Due Date’s nice surprises are its few poignant moments that aren’t overly saccharine and usually broken up by a butt crack gag. Here’s hoping fans of The Hangover are one year older, and also a little bit wiser.
Comedian Doug Benson Returns to Punch Line
Humoredian Doug Benson has it made. While you and I sit at home angered by celebrity antics, cursing the television, while we watch movies and comment to our friends on merits, while we get stoned and laugh at silly nonsense, Benson has signed some deal in blood to get paid for these slacker pastimes.
Benson is currently on tour, so I called him at a Hampton Inn in St. Louis (proving he is not too famous for our little publication). He had just finished an appearance on the Great Day St. Louis morning show and returned to his room to escape the “hella hot” Midwest forecast. Upon hearing a familiar, often abused, Northern California slang term, I asked Doug if he was from our territory. “I just hear a bunch of words and repeat them,” he replied. “It’s not habit.”
This August, Benson will be at Sacramento’s Punch Line, a venue he has played before. He was particularly intrigued with the strip mall location of the Punch Line, which probably looks a little different now. “It’s the strangest comedy club positioning I’ve ever seen,” he said. “There [was] like a foam store, a TJ Maxx and a mattress store. It’s like a one-stop shopping center for a pimp. He’d be able to get all his shit there.”
Those still unfamiliar with Doug Benson might need to take a morning or two off from wake-and-baking. In 2006, High Times named Benson Stoner of the Year, aka your hero. His film, Super High Me, took the premise of Super Size Me and exchanged it with pot. He is the co-creator/writer/star of The Marijuana-logues, which is self-explanatory. He once saw a vagina smoking a joint.
Along with his pot-related accolades, he is a talking head on Best Week Ever, finished top six on Last Comic Standing, has a podcast called I Love Movies, a comedy album called Professional Humoredian—and he said I was a good interviewer.
Most comedians, or people for that matter, are forced to keep their personal habits ambiguous—possibly telling pot jokes or laughing at pot jokes, but not too frequently so they don’t arouse suspicion. Benson has managed to become a renowned toker, yet makes appearances on local morning shows without network hesitation. “They keep it clean and family-style, but it’s also live,” Benson said. “Sometimes when I’m talking, I can see in the eyes of the host that I’m being too risqué for morning television.”
He admits he does not mind the interviews that dodge his pot humor, since he has plenty to talk about beyond marijuana. Yet, his core fans remain a faded following. On Twitter the night prior to our interview, he thanked a St. Louis kid, whose name he could not remember, for smoking him up in his car. I asked Benson if it was bothersome to be loved by a group of people so eager to share their budding wealth. “It’s an exciting thing to have in my life if I am just wandering around and someone offers to smoke me up,” he said. “At shows I get so many offers I can’t say yes to everybody. People get bummed out, which is kind of a drag. I’d be happy to smoke with everybody; unfortunately I’ve got things to do. I certainly didn’t start telling jokes about pot to get free pot, but it’s been an amazing side benefit.”
Benson began his stand-up career on a dare from a friend, while working as a stand-in and extra in Los Angeles. That was 23 years ago. Benson made new friends through comedy by becoming part of the Comedians of Comedy, a group he has toured with extensively. In Super High Me, several of his comedian friends smoke weed on camera, specifically Sarah Silverman and Brian Posehn. Benson has admitted that he did not smoke weed until age 27 when he started working with Bay Area comedians who toke after every show. Now, Benson can’t be seen in public without accusations of being blunted beyond belief; even followers on Twitter that day accused him of being high on a morning show, to which he attested, “No I just woke up and did a show. I’m not one to set the alarm for 15 minutes earlier so I can wake and bake before a show.”
“I do have naturally squinty eyes,” he said. “And I do smoke a lot of pot. So I don’t blame them for thinking I’m high. I can make jokes even when I’m not high. I’m that good at it.”
Truly Benson is capable of entertaining beyond cannabis conversations. His I Love Movies podcast, which he records at Los Angeles’s Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, has a simple premise. Benson and his comedian friends record their rants on movies in front of a studio audience and play the Leonard Maltin game or the Name That Tune game show’s Bid-A-Note round, but with movies.
A fan of the summer blockbuster push, he said he is disappointed with this season thus far. “Terminator was disappointing, Wolverine was disappointing,” he said. “I watched five minutes of Angels and Demons, then got up and left. I was like ‘I can see Star Trek again.'”
Still he found Star Trek was not a perfect movie beyond criticism. In fact, Benson raises an interesting point regarding the story. “I didn’t have the excitement over it that I hoped to have,” Benson said. “It did a good job reinventing all the characters.” Benson immediately broke into a rant with possible spoiler alerts, “Why do they always have to bring time travel into it? Now that they’ve introduced time travel and old Spock tells young Kirk what to do, why can’t old Spock just show up all the time when there’s a problem.” He went on to compare it to Superman spinning the world backwards to turn back time.
Benson included The Hangover in the short list of summer movies he’s enjoyed so far. Show stealer Zach Galifianakis is a member of the Comedians of Comedy and makes an appearance in Super High Me as Benson’s friend. “Well, I take a lot of credit for breaking Zach’s movie career with his appearance in Super High Me,” he said. “Things have been going great for him ever since. I look forward to riding his coattails.” Benson expressed his own interest in pushing into feature films, but admitted he is not prepared to do the full frontal nudity that Galifianakis bared. “I’m a little shy when it comes to public nudity,” he said.
Benson’s current tour is in preparation for his new comedy album, Unbalanced Load, on Comedy Central Records. He is performing an “evolving set” that includes new material. “Certainly anyone who saw me when I was last in Sacramento can expect a lot of new material,” he said. “I will be doing a lot of material from the record that week.” Benson said he usually reserves some time near the end of his set for requests from the audience outside of “more jokes about pot.” He just encourages enthusiasts to shout their favorite bits without tampering with the joke. “The best way to ask for a joke during the show is to not yell out the punch line of the joke,” he said. “Where do I go from there?”
