Muppets Most Wanted

I grew up watching The Muppets, loved them and always have loved them. The Muppet Movie was a childhood favorite and still is, and their TV show that ran for five seasons remains a gem. So naturally I was pretty disappointed when I came away incredibly disappointed with the 2011 franchise reboot, The Muppets. I gave it 2.5 stars but I came away less than pleased. I'm quick to forgive though and here we are with 2014's Muppets Most Wanted.

Having put themselves back on the map.....well, sort of, the Muppets must decide what to do now with their rediscovered fame. Kermit the Frog wants to take it slow, letting the group find their rhythm before jumping back into the limelight. The rest of the Muppets? Miss Piggy, Fozzie the Bear, Gonzo, Rowlf the Dog and the whole crew want to embrace the spotlight. Kermit goes along with it somewhat unwillingly, the Muppets hiring a manager, Dominic Badguy (Ricky Gervais), who unfortunately has some other plans. Badguy is partners with Constantine, the world's most dangerous frog and recently escaped from a Siberian gulag. Their evil, crazy, ridiculous plan? Constantine kidnaps Kermit -- a spot-on lookalike -- and sends him back to the gulag while he takes over the Muppets. Can the gang figure out what's going on or is Kermit doomed to waste away in Siberia?

It wasn't just that 2011's The Muppets wasn't good. It had its moments, and let's be honest. As long as the actual Muppets characters are around, a movie has to be halfway decent, right? Whatever the reasons -- and I'm still processing those reasons -- I liked this version far more. The reviews were about the same, and this follow-up actually made far less money (about $75 million) so go figure. I can't explain it everyone else. For me, I liked the cameos more. The story was goofy but funny. And no disrespect to Jason Segel and Amy Adams and Walter (who's still around), but I never found myself truly interested in their story. Here, I went along for the ride a little bit more. Sure, there are still some flaws that I don't know if any new Muppets movie can fix/solve but those flaws are minimized.

What did director/co-writer James Bobin and writer Nicholas Stoller get right this time around? For starters, more of a focus on the actual Muppets, those created by their founder and brilliant mind Jim Henson. We see Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo, Rowlf, Animal and the whole crew. The voices behind the familiar faces are different, but it's a seamless transition. Walter returns but he's just one of the gang now, not a major focus and that's a good thing. It's fun watching these characters you grew up watching. Their running bits, their sight gags, their subtle one-liners, it's all there. Could there be more focus on our favorite Muppets? Sure, but what's there is getting back to basics.  

If there's an issue, it's the over-reliance on the cameos, the surprise appearances from the Hollywood masses. The key characters include Gervais, nicely cast as the evil sidekick to Constantine, Tina Fey as Nadya, the musically-minded commander of the Siberian gulag, and Modern Family's Ty Burrell as an Interpol agent tracking down Constantine, Sam the Eagle making a memorable appearance as his C.I.A. agent counterpart. They're all solid, all bringing the laughs...but that's just a start. Also look out for -- and take a deep breath --  Lady Gaga, Tony Bennett, Hugh Bonneville, Jemaine Clement, P. Diddy, Rob Corddry, Celine Dion, Zach Galifianakis, Josh Groban, Salma Hayek, Tom Hiddleston, Toby Jones, Frank Langella, Ray Liotta, James McAvoy, Usher, Stanley Tucci, Danny Trejo, Christoph Waltz and probably a bunch others I'm forgetting. Most are a quick scene, a blink and you'll miss it appearance.

And there's the bigger issue. The movie becomes more about the goofiness, kookiness and I hate to say it, the gimmick. It doesn't feel like a movie, just a series of running gags. With this much talent assembled, some of them are going to work. The Muppets' complete acceptance of Constantine as Kermit is pretty hilarious. Animal's immediate awareness of what's going on is perfect. The musical numbers are excellent and far better than the original, especially 'We're Doing a Sequel' and 'I'm Number Two.' It is a movie missing that special something, those magic Muppet moments. It's really good but just not a classic.

Muppets Most Wanted (2014): ***/****

The Hangover Part III

While I liked 2011's The Hangover Part II, I can admit it was far from the most original story. I liked it almost in spite of itself. It was inevitable, wasn't it? In the age of the unnecessary sequels, it was only a matter of time before there was another follow-up. Naturally, I was a little concerned/suspicious/wary of a second sequel, but I've invested this much time so one more movie wouldn't kill me. And away we go with 2013's The Hangover Part III.

It's been two years since the hijinks in Bangkok, and the Wolfpack has moved on....for the most part. Alan (Zach Galifianakis) has hit a bit of a rough patch and gone off his meds. His family and friends are worried about him though and manage to convince him to go to a quasi-rehab center in Arizona. Well, that's the plan at least. With Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms) and Doug (Justin Bartha) along for the ride, the quartet heads out to bring Alan to the facility only to be stopped in the middle of the desert by a revenge-seeking gangster, Marshall (John Goodman). Years ago, Marshall had a costly run-in with a certain Leslie Chow (Ken Jeong). Marshall threatens to kill Doug unless the group can bring Chow to him. Recently escaped from a high security prison in Thailand, Chow won't make it easy though. From Tijuana to Las Vegas, the Wolfpack has one last adventure.

Have you made it to the third paragraph of this review? Congratulations! I imagine most people know/knew prior to starting this review whether or not they were going to seek this sequel out. Did you like The Hangover (a classic) and The Hangover Part II (meh but entertaining)? Then you'll like this movie. It is simple as that. Don't expect anything hugely groundbreaking, just good, solid laughs with characters we've come to like a lot by this third movie.

My biggest worry heading into this sequel from director Todd Phillips (the first two Hangovers, Old School, Due Date) was that....well, that it would be the same movie I'd seen twice before. I came away from Hangover 2 liking it, but feeling ashamed I liked it because it was literally the same movie as the first with Bangkok replacing Las Vegas. Thankfully, Phillips and script co-writer Craig Mazin didn't go for 'same old, same old' here, and the movie benefits greatly from it. There's no literal hangover here. The crew doesn't wake up after a night of debauchery and partying and have to find out how they got to that point. Instead, we get some background with Jeong's Chow, Goodman's Marshall, the Wolfpack and some $42 million in gold bars (just go with it). It's a little forced, but it's different.

Drinking, drugs, debauchery and everything else aside, I came back to the movie because of the cast. Cooper, Helms and Galifianakis are perfect together. Phil the smarmy, confident, good-looking guy, Helms the tortured demon-possessed quasi-normal guy, and Alan the all-around, off-the-wall screwball. Put those weird differences in personality together, and you've got a perfectly cast comedy trio. What they get into gets crazier and crazier, but 'Part III' is just better if you go along with it. Alan has an epic man crush on Phil who just wants to get Doug back while Stu resents everything about what they've gotten themselves into. Oh, and Bartha returns in a part that has to be painful for him. He's there, then gone, then back, then gone again as the story requires.

The best supporting part goes to Jeong though as Leslie Chow, international thief and all-around nut bag. The character is the definition of unpredictable. At different points, he sings karaoke to Johnny Cash's Hurt, pretends to be a dog and eats dog food, parachutes off Caesar's Palace, escapes from a high security prison, and steals a hidden cache of gold. Goodman too is a welcome presence as Marshall, the mobster who wants nothing but revenge on Chow. Also new, Melissa McCarthy is a scene-stealer as Cassie, a pawn shop owner who takes a shine to Alan. Heather Graham as Jade the stripper and Mike Epps as Black Doug also return from the first flick. And last but not least, yes, we see 4-year old Carlos, a really good scene between him and Alan.

There's that something missing that would have made this sequel really special, but I can't put my finger on it. It's missing a certain energy, and at 100 minutes feels a tad rushed. With all the craziness, it never slows down and wraps up rather quickly/abruptly. None of this is a movie-killer, but it does prevent it from reaching that full potential. It's really good stuff that could have been great. And according to cast and crew, this will be the final Hangover movie. That's the right decision. Now that said, stick around for the credits. It's the perfect final scene, bringing everything full circle with one good surprise after another. A worthy finale to a series that had its ups and downs but one that's definitely finishing out strong.

The Hangover Part III (2013): ***/****

The Muppets

I grew up watching anything Jim Henson got his hands on....okay, maybe not The Dark Crystal or Labyrinth. But Sesame Street? Fraggle Rock? The Muppets? Oh, yes, most definitely. Fraggle Rock's basic weirdness excluded, I loved everything Sesame Street and The Muppets could throw my way from TV shows to feature length movies. So last summer when I saw a new Muppets movie was being made, I was psyched. Enter 2011's The Muppets.

Growing up, young Walter (voice of Peter Linz) has always been a little different, but he's always gotten along best with his brother, Gary (Jason Segel), who's planning a trip to Los Angeles with his girlfriend, Mary (Amy Adams). Gary goes along with hopes of seeing the Muppet Studios, but instead he accidentally hears some startling news. A greedy businessman, Tex Richman (Chris Cooper), has bought the decrepit studio and plans to knock the place down. The only way out? Use a part of Richman's contract against him, but to do so, Walter has to reunite the long since departed Muppets. Can he find them? Naturally he starts at the top, looking for one Kermit the Frog.

It is clear from the script that he co-penned, but Segel was and is a huge fan of the Muppets dating back to The Muppet Show, The Muppet Movie, and yeah, basically anything with Muppets in it. Henson's creations have been out of the limelight for far too long if you ask me so there's a sense of nostalgia just watching this movie. The script actually plays that angle up as the old gang gets back together. Are the Muppets even famous anymore? Will anyone recognize them, much less welcome them back? Segel's script pays tribute to previous Muppet entries -- inside jokes, somewhat edgy humor for puppets, recurring gags -- but never goes overboard. Basically, if you have enjoyed watching the Muppets at any point in your life, something in this story will appeal to you.

While I feel ridiculous criticizing this movie in any sense, the positives outweigh the negatives for the most part. Why's that? Because it's the Muppets, and we get to see the old crew back together! Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, the Great Gonzo, Rolf the Dog, Animal, Swedish Chef, Sam the Eagle, Dr. Bunson Hunnydue and Beeker, and any number of other guys I'm forgetting. It's not a long movie so some characters get thrown by the wayside, but what's there for each is prime. Kermit as usual plays straight man to the antics, Miss Piggy loses her mind, and Fozzie is hilarious (as always). There's just a comfort level with seeing these characters again.

Now anyone new to the Muppet franchise should beware of wave after wave of cameo appearances. Cooper is hysterical as maniacally evil Tex Richman, insisting his henchmen laugh maniacally because he can't. Rashida Jones plays a maligned TV executive who puts the Muppets back on TV. Also look for Jack Black in a scene-stealing part as himself, Alan Arkin, Sarah Silverman, Mickey Rooney, Zach Galifianakis, Neil Patrick Harris, John Krasinski, singer Selena Gomez, Whoopi Goldberg, The Big Bang Theory's Jim Parsons, Emily Blunt, Dave Grohl as a replacement Animal, and Ken Jeong. And because Netflix/rental DVDs refuse to include special features on discs, apparently the deleted scenes feature many, many more cameos.

Brace yourself for the sacrilege. I have to criticize a Muppet movie. God bless Jason Segel and his Muppet fandom, but the hamfisted, forced story of his Gary and Adams' Mary is painful to watch. It's got to be hard being upstaged by Muppets, but basically anytime the story left focus from them to the humans....dullsville. It didn't help either that the song and dance numbers are awful. Maybe I'm spoiled with the original The Muppet Movie, but those original songs are classics. The Rainbow Connection does make an appearance here thankfully. As a topper, the new character, Walter, doesn't bring much new to the group. Still, this is a Muppet movie, and with fart shoes! Check it out HERE. The parts that do work -- Fozzie's Muppet cover band, Animal in Anger Management to control his drumming problem, the 'Muppet Man' dupe -- are spot-on. Too bad there couldn't have been more of those moments.

The Muppets <---trailer (2011): ** 1/2 /****

The Hangover Part II

So 2009's The Hangover was pretty fun, right?  Yeah, I thought so. It was that perfect blend of really smart humor, really raunchy humor, and just a genuinely good, funny movie that became the highest-grossing R-rated comedy of all time.  It was only a matter of time, wasn't it?  I was one of the masses to go to a midnight show last night for 2011's The Hangover Part II, a sequel to the comedy that regardless of reviews or word of mouth will no doubt make boatloads of money. 

For starters, yes, I did like the movie. I like the cast, and there were some genuine laughs.  But the second I heard a sequel was hitting theaters, my first thought was "Really? Where are they going to take this?"  Well, my concerns were legitimate. The Hangover Part II is literally the same movie as the original with Bangkok, the capital of Thailand (or Thighland according to one character), stepping in for Las Vegas.  I don't mean similar or with shades of its predecessor. I mean THE...EXACT...FREAKING...MOVIE almost scene for scene.  Oh wait, it's raunchier, a lot filthier, and it still manages to be funny. But don't expect an update or a tweak on the original. It's the same damn movie.

After the debacle at the bachelor party of their friend, Doug (Justin Bartha), groom-to-be Stu (Wes Helms) wants nothing to do with another bachelor party before he marries his fiance, Lauren (Jamie Chung). The wedding will be in a remote part of Thailand, and the whole crew is making the epic trip there. Phil (Bradley Cooper) is more than disappointed there will be no bachelor party, but he goes along, and of course, Alan (Zach Galifianakis) is along too. The Wolfpack is reunited. They celebrate lightly on the beach only to wake up the next morning in a dingy, sweaty, nasty Bangkok hotel room. Lauren's 16-year old brother, Teddy (Mason Lee), is missing (short a finger apparently), and there's no sign of him. Stu, Alan, and Phil remember none of what happens and start to put the pieces together, all in hopes of keeping the wedding on.

That may have been the most needless plot description I've written in over 600 reviews these last few years. If I was in a lazier mood or hadn't enjoyed the movie, I would have either linked to the original's review or maybe more cynically, just said 'See the first The Hangover and repeat (in Bangkok).' This is my problem with most things in Hollywood.  The original movie was great, a truly funny movie that was original and unique and damn entertaining.  It was so good they just had to go back to the well.  I get it, this movie will make a bajillion bucks, and it's as close to a sure thing as is out there.  But director Todd Phillips -- and I can't make this point enough -- makes the same EXACT movie.

To a certain point, you just know you're in trouble when the lines 'It's happening again' is used several separate times.  Still, above all else and any complete lack of originality, The Hangover 2 is an enjoyable movie. The whole gang is back. The next-morning scene of the trashed Bangkok hotel room -- while not as perfectly made as the Vegas shot -- is a gem.  The reveal of what happened (Stu's facial tattoos, Alan's head has been shaved) is the gimmick because we want to know how it happened. Mr. Chow (Ken Yeong) is back for more chaos, and the debauchery continues. The Wolfpack is reunited, searching for 16-year old Teddy and hoping to find him before the wedding. The best is saved for the end, the reveal of what actually did happen, all courtesy of the pictures on Teddy's phone.  That is the one thing that is significantly improved from the original. The pictures are priceless.  Alan also has a reveal about the pictures from the first movie that is priceless.

Thankfully, the whole cast is back for more. Lame retread of a successful story, yes, but the appeal of the first movie and now the sequel was the interaction among the cast. Cooper's Phil is the unofficial leader of the group, basically a likable a-hole.  Helms' Stu is wondering if his future father-in-law is going to approve of him EVER, and is the dupe of all the worst stuff (see Face Tattoo if you missed that). Galifianakis' Alan is the weirdo, glad to be back with his "friends," especially with his man-crush on Phil.  Their chemistry and interactions make this sequel worth watching, a fair share of surprises revealed along the way. Their misadventures are amped up, and the shady underworld nature of Bangkok adds a whole other level to the story. Joining the cast is Paul Giamatti as Kingsley, an American businessman up to no good who needs the guys to bring him Mr. Chow. And yes, Mike Tyson is back for an odd, somewhat falls short cameo as himself.

All criticisms aside, I did like this movie. It is a blatant rip-off of the original that never tries to take another step forward.  The mystery and misadventures produce a fair share of laughs, and it's fun seeing the cast reunited.  Galifianakis not surprisingly steals the show again, but the whole cast is worth mentioning.  But as I watched the movie and things moved along, a thought came to me (I know, they're rare). At what point will Hangover 3 be out? It will be stupid, a retread of a retread, and will almost assuredly make lots of money. I'll probably be seeing that one too.  But I feel duped because I've paid to see the same movie twice...two years apart.  Funny from start to finish so it gets a positive review even if it does lack some of the energy of the first The Hangover.  Still good though.

The Hangover Part II <---trailer (2011): ***/****

Due Date

If there was ever a mantra to live by in Hollywood, it's to strike when the iron is hot because you just don't know how long that iron is going to stay hot. The director of comedies Old School (a near classic) and more average flicks like Road Trip, School for Scoundrels and Starsky and Hutch, Todd Phillips hit the jackpot two years ago with the surprise success of 2009's The Hangover. One of the hotter directors around, Phillips followed up his hit with 2010's Due Date, a comedy for adults in a similar vein to his previous flicks.

Where Phillips is one of hotter comedic directors around, comedian turned star Zach Galifianakis is one of the most popular comedic actors around, thanks in great part to his hilarious role in Phillips' The Hangover. The director-actor combo teams up here again, and the results are equally as entertaining.  Galifianakis has been around in the spotlight since the late 1990s, starring in movies and TV shows while also making a name for himself as a comedian.  Given his chance to shine, he hit it out of the park in Hangover, and continues that trend with Due Date.

Traveling on business, architect Peter Highman (Robert Downey Jr.) is trying to get from Atlanta to Los Angeles so he can be there for the birth of his firstborn child with wife, Sarah (Michelle Monaghan). Her C-section is scheduled for several days away so Peter has plenty of time...at first. Thanks to an incident on the plane with fellow passenger, Ethan Tremblay (Galifianakis), Peter is taken off the flight and placed on a no-fly list.  So now what would have taken a few hours is going to take him a few days to get home. Making his situation even worse, he's lost his wallet with any sort of ID, money, or credit card. His one option to get home? Drive with Ethan who was able to rent a car for his trip to L.A. where he intends to make it big as an actor. Desperate to get home on time, Peter decides to go along, having no idea what awaits him on the open road with Ethan.

Sound familiar? It should. It's called Planes, Trains and Automobiles from 1987 starring Steve Martin and John Candy. Due Date isn't a remake of any sort, instead just using a similar storyline. It certainly has more in your face humor than P, T and A, and things have been changed enough to make the movie interesting thankfully.  The humor is easy, put two complete opposites together in a situation completely out of their control and sit back, let the hi-jinx and shenanigans commence.  It's traveling across the country. Has a cross country trip ever gone smoothly in the history of time? It's almost fated not to end well.  This is a genuinely funny flick though, partially because everyone can appreciate the hell that is traveling long distances.

What surprised me some was the mean-spirited nature of Due Date, much of that coming from Downey Jr. as Peter, a high strung father to be.  A character in a movie does not have to be easy to like, that's a given, but for lack of a better description, Peter is an asshole.  He seems to revel in it too.  He realizes he has anger management issues and has agreed to work on the problem for his wife, but let's say that Ethan brings out the worst in him.  The humor of course comes from this jackass of a man who is not likable in the least. You come to like him -- to a point -- but watching him lose his mind one interaction at a time is great. Downer Jr. is a great comedic actor, and he doesn't disappoint, going through ups and downs, lefts and rights around every corner on this trip from hell.

As good as he is though, this is Galifianakis' movie.  He gets all the great lines and ends up delivering some easily quotable one-liners for the audience. His Ethan is a spin on The Hangover's Alan, a little less crazy but with all the eccentricities and oddities still present.  He manages to make this character creepy, innocent, crazy at times, naive, innocent, frightfully slow at other times, an eccentric, and a man with no boundaries. Through it all though, Galifianakis makes Ethan a character, and one you like in spite of all his weird, little quirks.  It's his line delivery, his general cluelessness at what's going on around him, his physical mannerisms, everything adds up to make this great character.

While Downey Jr. and Galifianakis dominate the screen and don't disappoint, Due Date has a handful of cameos that play well off its two stars.  Former Wu Tang Clan member RZA plays a racially paranoid airport security screener, Jamie Foxx is Darryl, Peter's long-time friend who helps him out in Texas (sort of), Juliette Lewis is great as Heidi, a drug dealer in Birmingham Ethan goes to see, Danny McBride as an Iraq vet with a secret, and Phillips favorite Matt Walsh as a TSA agent. None of these parts are in the movie for more than five or six minutes, but they all make the most of their screentime.

The humor is all over the place here, ranging from good to bad.  Some of the gross-out humor -- Ethan's dog Sonny masturbates while Ethan does -- doesn't work as well as some of the more subtle laughs.  Downey Jr. and Galifianakis play off each other so well that their conversations are sublimely perfect, especially an acting challenge Peter gives to Ethan in a gas station bathroom that ends with a surprisingly real, touching moment. The physical humor doesn't disappoint either, especially some highway craziness that includes a breakout from Mexico. Yes, you read that right. A breakout from Mexico. Sure, it's crazy, but like the rest of the movie, just go along with it.

Due Date <---trailer (2010): ***/****

Up in the Air

I watch my fair share of 'big' movies, stories where the fate of the world or a country depend on one key moment.  Those tendencies goes well with war, action, Bond, superheroes, anything similar because a bigger scale is key to their success.  So watching those movies, it can be an enjoyable twist to just watch a movie every so often that is about one or two people and who they really are as individuals.  You don't need supervillains trying to take over the world, or a country about to go under.  It was a critical favorite, but I missed it in theaters, 2009's Up in the Air.

The economic struggles the world has gone through in the last half-decade or so sets the groundwork for this story.  Companies and corporations worldwide were forced into firing thousands of employees because the money just wasn't there to pay them their salaries.  Families and individuals alike were forced to improvise on the fly and adjust to their new job-less lives.  But what about when a company/corporation wanted nothing to do with the actual firing process?  That's where Up in the Air steps in with the always cool, always suave George Clooney handling the firing duties.

Working for a nameless company, middle-aged Ryan Bingham (Clooney) spends 300-plus days a year traveling across the country going from company to company helping them fire their employees one-by-one in  a face to face situation.  It's a horrific job, but Bingham is good at it, and even weirder than that, he likes it.  Bingham lives out of his suitcase and dreads the time he has to spend at his bland, sparsely decorated apartment in Omaha.  He's called back to headquarters though where a new hire fresh out of college, Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick), has brought in a new technology that will erase the need for Ryan and his co-workers to travel to these places, instead firing people on a computer.  But first, Ryan's boss (Jason Bateman) wants him to take Natalie on the road for a few weeks and show her how it's really done.

Nominated for a handful of Oscars including Best Picture, Best Directing, and three different acting categories, it's easy to see why director Jason Reitman's movie did so well critically and in theaters pulling in over $80 million.  Just like Reitman's Juno, it's a slick, professionally made movie that reeks of talent in front of and behind the camera.  The dialogue is quick and sharp as the characters talk in ways that ordinary people could never sound like, and the story has a visual edge as Ryan's airport/hotel life is shown in detail, quick cuts and all.  This might sound negative, but it really isn't.  It sounds like I'm resenting a movie that is well-made, but if anything it's too well-made.

Starting with the casting, the three main parts are all home run roles, all of them earning an Oscar nomination but none of them winning.  Clooney is a great actor, and about as safe as an actor currently out there in terms of turning in a great performance.  He somehow makes Ryan a likable character even though there's not much to root for in terms of personality, beliefs, or principles.  Bingham is charming though and that always helps.  He has an interesting relationship with a woman, Alex (Vera Farmiga), who is basically the female version of him. Neither is really looking for any sort of commitment, and in that way they bond.  Playing Natalie, Kendrick is the anti-Ryan so she naturally clashes with him, especially forced to work with him on the road.

Joining Bateman in the supporting cast is a handful of comedic actors who get to show their dramatic chops off.  In some cases, their appearances aren't anything more than a minute or two, but even with a limited amount of time they come across well.  J.K. Simmons and Zach Galifianakis play two employees at different companies Ryan must fire, each of them handling the news in their own unique way.  Melanie Lynskey and Danny McBride (in dramatic scene-stealing mode, one monologue especially) play Ryan's sister and her husband-to-be with Amy Morton playing the sister trying to bring the family together.  Also look for Sam Elliott to make a quick appearance.  In a nice touch, Reitman also had actual fired employees play themselves in many scenes, giving an authentic feel to these already difficult scenes.

For me I thought the movie was at its best when sticking with Ryan -- and later Natalie -- on the road as they travel from airport to airport, always moving to another company that needs help.  There's drama, some dark humor thrown in, and a style that is visually pleasing and enjoyable to watch.  The story goes downhill a bit at Ryan's sister's wedding though, and even though it features some fine moments, it feels a little off.  The last 30 minutes featured a twist that I saw coming but was still bothered by it because one, it brings up some big plot holes, and two, I didn't like the revelation a character makes.  Still, the first hour builds up a lot of credit so the struggles in the second half aren't a deal breaker.

The ending itself is far from a happy ending, but it works for the Ryan character.  Depressing?  You bet, but it comes together for me.  Ryan's changed, but at the same time he hasn't.  He wants something else, but maybe he is too scared to look for it, or maybe he just doesn't know where to start.  It was a bit of a jarring ending, especially considering the last line.  You may not like the ending -- I didn't -- but for a realistic, feasible way to end the story, it fits together.

Up in the Air <----trailer (2009): ***/**** 

The Hangover

When it comes to popular movies, TV shows, or books, I'm never one to jump on the bandwagon.  I haven't read the Harry Potter books beyond the first one, the Twilight series looks like garbage, I started watching Lost midway through the third season, and Avatar doesn't appeal to me in the least.  Some of it is intentional -- I don't like people telling me I HAVE TO see or read something -- and some of it is just not getting around to it, like 2009's The Hangover, a huge success in theaters last summer.  I wanted to see it, just never got around to it.

What Wedding Crashers started a few years back with the R-rated comedy, The Hangover continues with a raunchier brand of laughs than what PG-13 comedies get away with.  These harder comedies were everywhere in the 1980s, and then they sort of just disappeared.   Thankfully, they've popped back up on the radar, and with good examples like Wedding Crashers and The Hangover hopefully they're here to stay.  Of course, there's the bad -- cough Hot Tub Time Machine  cough -- but they can't all be perfect, can they?

It seems somewhat pointless to write a plot summary of The Hangover but here goes.  Two days before he's supposed to get married, Doug (Justin Bartha) heads to Las Vegas for his bachelor party with his best friends, Phil (Bradley Cooper) and Stu (Ed Helms) and his soon-to-be brother in law Alan (Zach Galifianakis).  Before they head out, they toast the groom to be and fade out.  Fast forward to the next morning, and they wake up in their destroyed hotel suite with massive hangovers no memory of what happened the night before.  Making it worse, Doug is nowhere to be found.  So what did happen during the bachelor party?  They've got little time to find out.

After this quick intro, the rest of the movie is the trio's effort to A. find out where Doug is and B. what the hell happened to them?  It is a search that includes a full-grown tiger in their bathroom, Stu's marriage to a stripper/escort, Jade (Heather Graham), boxer Mike Tyson tracking them down because they stole his tiger, an angry Chinese gambler (Ken Jeong) they supposedly  kidnapped, a trip to the police station and a tasing exhibition, a drug dealer (Mike Epps) with something in common with the fellas, a stolen police car, and a baby Alan names 'Carlos' that was left in a closet in their hotel room.  If that's not a recipe for success, I don't know what is.

A key to any successful comedy -- or huge, megahit in this case -- is the one-liners, or making it simpler, how quotable is the movie?  Here is IMDB's Memorable Quotes, which even out of context provide some good laughs. The ridiculously over the top situations provide some great physical humor, especially the scene in the police station, but that's just the start.  Like with his other huge success, Old School, director Todd Phillips has a movie full of quotable one-liners.   Cooper is more of the straight man to all the antics (although he does have his fair share of good lines), Helms gets to go crazy because he's missing a tooth and also gave his grandma's ring she wore through the Holocaust to his new stripper bride, and Galifianakis, well, he gets his own paragraph.

Some comedies have huge breakout characters capable of carrying a movie on their own.  For The Hangover, it's clearly Galifianakis.  Cooper and Helms are great in their own right, and the supporting cast is nearly perfect, but this is his movie.  In describing the character, think of him as someone who's not all there mentally but is still really smart, awkward beyond belief with some of his statements, and in the big picture....one of the funniest characters I've ever seen in a movie.  Well over half of those memorable quotes come from him, and it would take a much longer review to talk up how funny Alan really is.  Anyways, here's just a few, his friendship/wolfpack speech, Alan's criticism of Rain Man, and of course, the taser scene.

With a so perfectly sublime character as Alan leading the way, Phillips doesn't stop there.  Before the movie even came out, the trailer scene that people talked about was Mike Tyson going Rock Band on some classic Phil Collins.  Here's Tyson's introduction, still one of the movie's best and funniest moments.  The boxer is in the movie for about 10-15 minutes tops and makes the most of it with his fair share of lines that produced a laugh or two or seven.  He's able to poke some fun at himself and even throws a punch or two ("He's still got it") with the scene at his mansion providing some much-needed explanation for the tiger in the bathroom. 

It might seem a waste to describe the story-telling device in a comedy, but for the Hangover, the decision to not show the actual bachelor party at all made this movie. Seeing it no doubt would have been funny, but hearing about it instead and how legendary it was works so much better.  Meeting all these people they've interacted with who react like they're meeting their heroes does more to show how crazy the night was than ever seeing it.  Of course, we do get some revelation late when Alan stumbles across Stu's camera with hundreds of pictures detailing their escapades.  Using the photos over the credits is a perfect ending.

I can't remember the last time I laughed this much at a movie in a long time.  The cast is great, the story and setting is ideal, and the one-liners are flying left and right.  The Hangover 2 is supposedly in the works, and I'll be curious to see where they actually go with a sequel.  For now though, I'll just enjoy the first one.  It was more than worth the 2-month wait on Netflix.  I also included the link to Stu's song about the epic clusterf*ck they find themselves in.

The Hangover <----trailer (2009): ****/****
Stu's Song