In defence of The Hangover... 2

I am not embarrassed to say that I like The Hangover films - both of them. I am equally unembarrassed to admit that I probably prefer the second film to the first. I truly believe both Hangover films are misunderstood – especially the Wolf Pack’s adventure in Thailand.

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The conventional wisdom is that Part 2 is a total rip-off of first Hangover film. I get the argument, you get the same film by just replacing one element with another: substitute Doug going missing in the first one for Stu’s future brother in-law being missing in the second film; the baby in the first film with a monkey in the second; and Heather Graham’s Jade in the original for the transvestite prostitute in sequel.

The problem with this theory is that it misses the point of why films like the Hangover exist and why they are so popular. I am also convinced that this theory was drawn up by film critiques, such as myself, that feel like they are better than the people that clearly enjoy such films. Enjoy – that’s a very complicated word in the ‘film critic’ vocabulary. It is very hard not to look for a meaning in a film and it’s equally as hard not to belittle a film when you don’t find a meaning in it. Sometimes it seems like critics forget that the majority of people go to the cinema or watch a film at their homes for pure escapism and fun. They don’t want to think, they don’t want to ponder about some great philosophical theory presented in the film – they just want to forget about their everyday lives for an hour or two. This is doubly the case when it comes to comedy films and the Hangovers are a perfect example of this.

The Hangover films are pure escapism – you just can’t take them seriously and that isn’t a bad thing what-so-ever. What is also important is that both films carry their unbelievability with great confidence. Basically, the films don’t care how outrageous they are and that abandonment sells the set pieces such as the boys having to take Mike Tyson’s pet tiger back or the car chase which was initiated by a smoking monkey.

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Another thing about comedy films which I have grown to realise is that they are very difficult to get right. Comedy is one of those things that is very personal and everyone has an opinion. I have people in my life that prefer their comedy light-hearted with a hint of slap stick and others who like it dead-pan.

A lot of commercially successful comedy films are aimed at a family audience. I can’t think of a comedy in recent years which had a 15 certificate that has done as well as both Hangover films and that can’t be disregarded.

Now, I personally like my comedy outrageous with sprinklings of sexual humour and I guess it’s for that reason why these films sit so right with me – especially the second one. I admit that the second film follows the blueprint from the original very closely, but what makes it stand out is its scope and ambition. It almost feels as if the second film is the one Todd Phillips actually wanted to make but couldn’t quite get it cleared by the Hollywood executives the first time around. The stunts are bigger, the jokes ruder and ... (*sigh*) the transvestite...

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I have never heard a crowded cinema gasp in shock and disbelief during a comedy film until The Hangover 2 and the scene in the Thailand strip bar.

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Who hasn’t been on a wild-bender? As a tee-totaller, I haven’t. But, what I mean to say is, who doesn’t want to go on a wild-holiday with their closest pals? 

The most important thing about these films is that the characters are so likeable. That is the Hangover film’s biggest selling point. The Wolf-Pack’s exploits may not be believable, but every single character (apart from Alan) is down to earth. You almost want to be friends with these people – including Alan.

I guess the reason why I prefer the second to the first film is down to the fact that I know the characters better by Part 2 – it’s like revisiting old friends getting up to their old tricks.

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No Silver Lining

As early as two weeks ago, I was belittling enraged comic book fans for what I believed to be their unreasonable attitude toward Iron Man 3. I feel like Karma has well and truly bit me up my chocolate tasty backside.

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Game of Thrones has gotten so much outrageously positive reviews that I have tried very hard to stay away from it. So I made a silly rule that I will not watch any television program, or film for that matter, that has been based on a book without reading the said book first.  Again, this was all in the effort to avoid Game of Thrones because I knew it would take me a while to get round to reading those long ass things.

So along came Silver Lining Playbook.

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I only got round to reading Silver Lining Playbook because it was recommended to me by my Kindle after I finished Jon Ronson’s Psychopath Test. Ronson’s book was kind of an eye-opener; it laid out in layman’s terms how fragile our understanding of mental illness is. Western society’s understanding of mental illness isn’t as concrete as I thought and it turns out that there maybe psychopaths wreaking havoc in high ranking public positions.

If Ronson’s book was an eye-opener, Michael Quick’s Silver Lining Playbook was an absolute revelation. I have never cried while reading a book in my life. Not only did Silver Lining Playbook make me cry, I was sobbing by the end of it. 

SLPB is a fantastic book for one clear reason – it’s very hard to read. I don’t mean that in terms of language and prose, I mean that in terms of how it deals with the subject matter of mental illness.

In the book, Pat People’s is a devastated man hanging on by a thread and that thread happens to be his wife - a woman that cheated on him and a woman that will never be part of his life ever again. Pat is such a fragile character - he is a broken man to the point where he isn’t even a man anymore. The book does a fantastic job of demonstrating this by the way it uses Pat’s narration and speaking style – Pat speaks as though he is a child. He has lost all sense of time (he has no clue how long he’s been in the mental hospital) and reality.

SLPB is essentially a story about how Pat builds his life up again, brick by heavy brick, with the help of American football, his friends and his family, especially his mother. His mother is a god-damn-hero in the book. She struggles every bit as much as Pat and is such an inspiring character. She not only looks after Pat, but she also looks after her husband who may also have a mental illness (it's only hinted at in the book).

The reason why this book doesn’t turn into a depressing orgy is because of Pat’s relationship with Tiffany. Reading about how their relationship develops is heart-warming, but I also feel like a sadistic voyeur watching two wounded animals trying to patch themselves up.

At the end of the book, Pat and Tiffany acknowledge that they needed each other (this is when I started to sob). And it’s that acknowledgment, after the hard graft of everything else that happens to them in the book, what makes Silver Lining Playbook special. The realisation that love isn’t like the movies and things don’t just sort themselves out with luck – love is a lot to do with luck and having someone there that is willing to stand by you, warts and all.

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The problem with the film version of Silver Lining Playbook is that it almost ignores everything that made the book so special. In fact, the film plays out like the romantic film’s Pat fantasizes about in the book. There are no difficult explorations of mental illness and how it effects Pat's family. There is no real in depth look about how Pat has lost his grasp on reality and how he is struggling to battle his demons everyday. Even the subject of his marriage to Nikki is practically glossed over. Yes, all of these things are mentioned and hinted at but they are also quickly forgotten.

And as great as Jennifer Lawrence’s Tiffany is, she is just as woefully under developed as Bradley Cooper’s Pat. There is no real weight to any of the characters, no sense that they have been on a journey.

I’m not here to argue that SLPB isn’t a good film. It clearly is. It’s funny and very well acted, but it’s almost entirely forgettable.

Silver Lining Playbook is a hollow disappointment of a movie. I can almost hear Hollywood executives telling David O.Russell not to make the film too depressing, or too difficult for the audience. And importantly, I can hear the Hollywood machine making sure that this film has a clear cut happy ending.

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Silver Lining Playbook should have been a 3 hour film, but I’m not sure it would have done so well if it was that long. We’re living in a time where America is blaming the mentally ill for the extreme public violence in their country; maybe a film that dealt with the subject matter more acutely could help the country’s understanding a bit more.  




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