The Hangover 3 - Mr. Chow's Peanut Pecker

The Hangover 3 should have hung it up. The first and second films were the epitome of bad taste. From Stu’s predilection for she male hookers to Mr. Chow’s peanut pecker to a masturbating capuchin monkey; we were embarrassed to laugh but we did. The Hangover 3 script is lazy and mean. Gratis violence was used as a substitute for humorous writing.  The producers probably knew this was their swan song and put minimal efforts into making this movie in the spirit of the earlier movies. In an opening scene involving a live giraffe, a stunt that works in a Looney Tune cartoon was in bad taste in a live action flick. How bad is a Hangover movie when it is accused of bad taste?

Mr. Chow, Ken Jeong, has a key role in this movie and drives the plot. He is obnoxious and foul mouth, which is acceptable. However, his erratic personality zig zags from a cocaine haze to a stone cold hit man.

I am always happy to see John Goodman in a movie. He is Every Man and people relate to him. Here he is a just prop. His persona contributes nothing to the movie. Any fat guy with aviator sun glasses could have played the role. As a tie in the original movie Black Doug makes a cameo appearance and as quickly disappears.     

Alan is lost in his ADHD and off his meds. His stunts are consistent with the last two films but they fail to launch the comedic pulse of this movie. He has a love interest in this movie, Melissa McCarthy. She has purple hair, runs a pawn shop and is just short of elder abuse. She and Alan fall in love at first sight. Why, who the hell knows. I guess at 40 it’s time for Alan to get laid.

Bradley Cooper looks like he does not want to be here. If this was done after Silver Linings Playbook he must be thinking of damage control. Ed Helms, as Stu, does not loss a tooth or gain a tattoo but he still has his trademark high shriek which punctuates the film.

As opposed to the last two films, there are no salacious pictures needed to be destroyed after viewing. So before the credits started to roll I left the theater, but noticed no one else was exiting. Going back in, I saw there were final embarrassing scenes rolling. Since this is the final Hangover movie it is only appropriate the last shot should be of Mr. Chow’s peanut pecker. Or was that the monkey’s pecker?