THE HANGOVER PART III

year: 2013 cast: Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, Ed Helms, John Goodman, Ken Jeong rating: **1/2

Anyone who’s suffered a real hangover has probably moaned the words, “Never again.” Well in a cinematic sense, the same mistake has now been made twice, first with the limp HANGOVER PART II that borrowed much too closely from the original's template: three guys, having partied too hard, wake up with no memories of the night before and the complicated backtracking begins. Now part III has shoved the whole blackout device under the carpet. This time "The Wolf Pack" is sent on a mission by a mobster (John Goodman) to recover gold bars stolen by Mr. Chow.

That’s the basic plot in a nutshell, and we start off with the three friends… Bradley Cooper’s reluctant leader, Phil; Ed Helms as the group’s guinea pig, Stu; and the flaky bearded man-child Alan played by Zach Galifianakis… venturing into Mexico to find the elusive Asian wacko, more of a formidably indestructible secret agent than a second-tier comic relief – and is given way too much screen time.

Most of the capers… from robbing (what seems to be) Chow’s mansion in Mexico to, once the boys return to their roots in Las Vegas, climbing down the Caesars Palace Hotel penthouse using tied-up bed sheets… could have made up several decent trailers for a non-comedic thriller. Which is exactly what this third (and supposedly final) HANGOVER has to offer: a few action sequences and nothing more. So why waste time knocking the movie for not being funny when it never really tries to be? That is, until about fifteen seconds into the end credits: If you paid to see a comedy, this is your best bet.