‘Hangover II’ (English, Comedy)
Director: Todd Phillips
Cast: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha, Ken Jeong and Paul Giamatti
The bachelor party seems to have a fairly simple purpose; a night of raucous debauchery that one, due to memory loss or a healthy interest in keeping the lines of communication with one’s future spouse alive and healthy, repeats only in hushed tones and the company of fellow attendees.
The implicit code of silence between the participants in and of itself is a wellspring of comedic and dramatic tension. By throwing Las Vegas into the mix, a city that has maintained a motto of secrecy since the days of Bugsy Siegel, and spicing it up with his patented frat boy sense of humor, Todd Phillips created an immediate winner with his outrageous original, ‘The Hangover’.
In ‘The Hangover Part II’, Phillips is back with his fleshed out characters and the ability to conjure up a bawdy bacchanal with hilarious consequences. However, this time it’s Stu, as-repressed-as- ever Ed Helms, who is marrying his beautiful Thai girlfriend Lauren (Jamie Chung in a justifiably short role). After Vegas, Stu — replaced tooth and all — is painfully aware of the possibility that his wedding could be reduced to an after event for the bachelor party.
Phil (played by Bradley Cooper) is absolutely distraught at the sham of a ‘bachelor brunch’ that the groom has organised. Doug (played by Justin Bartha), the straight man of the group, is burdened with getting Stu to invite his brother-in-law Alan, Zach Galifianakis playing the king of his own kooky kingdom, to the wedding. Eventually, Alan is invited along but his insecurities bubble over when Stu and the gang decide to include Teddy, Lauren’s younger brother in the group.
Alan sees Teddy’s unauthorized entry into his ‘wolfpack’ as trespassing, almost as if he is afraid of being replaced. He senses, rightfully so, that he is not yet truly part of the gang. Zach Galifianakis continues playing Alan as the overgrown infant from the original but the portrayal is no longer subliminal in this reprise.
In a rather on-the-nose affirmation of this rendering, every major character, including himself, is played by children in a reenactment of forgotten events in Alan’s memory. While his petulance is at once annoying and the source of much humour, it isn’t too far removed from a more adult need for acceptance. This is something Stu should understand, but doesn’t until the events of the film play out. Marrying into another culture, he is unable to gain the trust of his father-in-law. In his speech at the rehearsal dinner, Lauren’s father equates his future son-in-law to a tasteless, watery, yet nutritious broth. Still reticent about standing up for himself Stu seems to live in fear and it isn’t entirely implausible that his father-in-law sees in him the eyes of a coward.
But is his fear a response to external stimuli or a fear of what lurks beneath, waiting to erupt at the provocation of hallucinogens? One of the most telling inclusions in the otherwise adrenaline rush inducing soundtrack is a cover of Johnny Cash’s ‘The Beast in Me’. Stu faces his fears and comes to terms with his internal demons as the film draws to its inevitable conclusion.
And make no mistake; the conclusion is never in doubt once the film begins. ‘Hangover Part II’ begins much the same way as its predecessor, with Phil calling Doug’s wife to inform her that the impending nuptials may be in jeopardy. As the trio retraces the events they have forgotten in much the same way as the first film one cannot help connecting the parallels in the narratives.
Even Chow (played by the absurdly funny Ken Jeong) and Mike Tyson, first in tattooed spirit then in person, return to emphasize our sense of deja-vu. But if one can look past the exercise in pattern recognition there is a barrel of laughs to be had in this trip to Bangkok.