When the Party Ends
The third Hangover was supposed to be the finale, and you could tell the filmmakers were trying hard to make it one. Trouble was they’d also decided the trilogy needed to get serious—the jokes got darker, the plot got messier, like they weren’t sure if this was still a comedy. I watched it feeling that specific awkwardness of a film that’s lost its way, trying to be something it was never made for. By the end I wasn’t moved or amused, just aware that something essential had shifted.