June 01, 2011
Two years ago, a comedy film about three friends on a spree in Las Vegas became a worldwide hit despite - or perhaps because of - its crude humor. Now they're back together and this time the setting is Bangkok, but the jokes are no less outrageous. Here's a look at The Hangover Part II.
STU: "I can't believe this is happening again."
PHIL: "We love to party."
In the first Hangover film, they're in Las Vegas to give their friend a party before his wedding. They're accidentally drugged and awake the next morning in their trashed hotel suite with no memory of what happened. And their friend, the groom, is missing. To find him, they have to retrace their steps and return to the scenes of their debauchery.
In this sequel, they gather again for a wedding, but this time at a luxury resort in Thailand.?
PHIL: "Come have a drink with me and the guys."
GIL: "All right, one drink."
GROUP: "Cheers!"
That friendly beer is all they can remember when they wake hours later in a dilapidated room on the fringes of Bangkok.
Just like the first film, they can not remember a thing about the night that left them in such bad shape. And once again, one of their party is missing.
So off they go to figure out where they had been and what they did in hopes of finding him in time to get back for the wedding.
Director and co-writer Todd Phillips says it's no accident that the plots are so similar.
"The fun part of the first Hangover for me is, obviously the guys are really funny in it and they have chemistry and all that," notes Phillips, "but it's also a mystery and we didn't want to lose that investigative element, because that sort of keeps people leaning forward on their seats and involved in the story. So we made a conscious decision early on to stick with that template and embrace it."
Zach Galifianakis co-stars as socially-challenged Alan who is devoted to the quiet, reserved dentist Stu, played by Ed Helms. Bradley Cooper is party-loving Phil. Cooper says the sequel gives them more opportunity to develop the characters than they had two years ago.
"You really didn't get to know the characters," says Cooper. "The narrative was really this mystery - this ticking clock - that took precedence in the first one. I think the difference between that one and this one is this movie is more about the dynamic of the three guys and you really get to know them."
Co-star Ed Helms agrees, calling the characters in the first movie "conventional archetypes."
"When it came time for the second movie, it was very exciting because, to echo what Bradley said, we were able to add dimension to these characters," says Helms. "We had already done the homework. You knew who they were, you knew what the relationships were and there were more layers on these guys that were fun to explore."
PHIL: "Check your pockets. There might be clues."
STU: "Cheng Mai monastery ...I don't remember any of this."
Audiences remember the surprise cameos in the first film, and The Hangover Part II brings them back, like boxing champion Mike Tyson. This outting doesn't spoil the surprise because the advertising for the film features a scene of Tyson. Director Phillips says it's a price they paid because of the first film's success.
"It's nice to make a comedy where you're flying under the radar," Phillips says. "On this movie, obviously, we were not under the radar as a sequel to the biggest R-rated comedy of all time..... That said, I call it an 'uptown' problem. In other words, people are anticipating the movie so much that they want to talk about it on the Internet or on entertainment shows. It's nice to have them talking about it."
Animal rights activists have been talking about scenes of a capuchin monkey chain-smoking cigarettes in The Hangover Part II. But the filmmakers insist the monkey - a screen veteran named Crystal - held an unlit cigarette and the smoke was a special effect added later by computer.