One more time around the bender
Bradley Cooper visits Vegas for final Hangover
LAS VEGAS — Before his 2009 Hangover, Bradley Cooper was best known in the movie industry as the bad boyfriend in Wedding Crashers and a Failure to Launch sidekick.
Since then, he’s sitting pretty as an A-list movie star with a Silver Linings Playbook Oscar nomination and a direct connection to the two R-rated Hangover hits, which earned more than $1.4 billion US.
The 38-year-old happily returns to the raunchy comedy party one last time for The Hangover Part III.
“In the second one we were out of our comfort zone and in Thailand,” said a bearded Cooper, relaxing in, appropriately enough, a Caesars Palace suite (although not the one used in the first movie). “In this third one, the goal is to help Alan, to get Doug back, and be there for each other.”
There is a departure, however. The latest Todd Phillips-directed journey into misadventure doesn’t use the blackout device to set up the humour.
The so-called Wolfpack gets into all kinds of trouble, however, when Phil (Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms), and Doug (Justin Bartha) escort the witless Alan (Zach Galifianakis) to a retreat. It’s for his own behavioural good after the sudden death of his dad (Jeffrey Tambor) and a ghastly mishap with a giraffe.
Unfortunately, the Hangover gang is rudely interrupted along the way which sets off a series of events leading to another faceoff with gangster Mr. Chow (Ken Jeong) and a return to Vegas where their first Hangover began.
New to the farce is the threatening mobster Marshall (John Goodman). Back from the first one is former stripper Jade (Heather Graham), who tries to help the guys recover Doug from his hostage situation.
All three headliners shine but the focus is on Galifianakis’ Alan, who continues to be goofy, guileless and not nearly as together as he thinks he is. Alan also continues to be infatuated with Phil, a mixedmessage running joke that the franchise excels at.
“If you call Zach’s Alan the man-child then Brad’s Phil is sort of the father figure,” noted Phillips.
Yet the ensemble nature of the comedy rules in the third Hangover. “There were a lot more scenes in the third one, like the first one, of just driving in the car together that the second one didn’t have,” Cooper said. “That’s why I enjoyed the third one a lot; because we got a chance to sit with each other.”
Filming in Vegas was another matter. The third time was not as anonymous as the first here. Now Caesars patrons can play Hangover slot machines and request the Hangover suite in the hotel.
On the other hand, Phillips said the popularity of the previous movies led to him getting permission to shut down the Vegas strip for a few days to shoot some key sequences of Mr. Chow hang-gliding over the downtown. “The Hangovers mean a lot to this town,” the director reported.
Cooper, Helms and Galifianakis know the feeling of appreciation. They also understand the series’ success is about the whole of the parts.
“It’s what has been so special,” said Cooper. “It does feel like a communal thing. Ideas were thrown out and shared and there was no ownership at all. “People sort of say that about collaborative experiences but this really was the case. It started in the first one but it really manifested itself in the third one.”
Chances are number three will also be a huge hit, but the director and his main cast insist the shindig’s over after Part III.
“We really wanted (Hangover III) to feel like an ending,” confirmed Phillips.
“Zach had a good idea,” Cooper joked. “We actually do film Hangover IV but just with a flip-cam.”
Still, a quick scene after the credit scroll does hint at the possibility of another Hangover. “That last bit was a little candy, not the opening up for another movie,” said Cooper. “The movie has closure and ties up everything that you didn’t even know needed tying up.”
In other words, Cooper is definitely moving into the drama department. He’s reteamed with Silver Linings Playbook director David O. Russell and co-star Jennifer Lawrence in the crime thriller American Hustle, out next December, and is also starring in the Steven Spielberg-directed American Sniper.