The movie itself is heavy on the “edgy” jokes, which in reality are just sexist and ableist. After watching this, I truly wonder if the filmmakers have ever even had a conversation with a woman. And listen, I love camp, but there’s a fine line between camp and whatever this is. And the characters actually have more than one dimension to them, so that’s always a plus! There’s an incestuous twist at the end, so maybe not. Since its release, I’ve simultaneously heard people reference this movie when talking about accurate depictions of mental illness and also inaccurate ones. And while no one can say for sure who’s right, since every person’s experiences are different, I think we can all agree that the ending is pretty unrealistic. When the two main characters get together, the movie sort of implies that their love cures both of their mental illnesses. And while I’m not expecting a super downer of an ending, to write a whole-ass movie about mental illness and then wrap it up in a neat little bow just seems a bit off to me and could potentially send a dangerous message, like, “Don’t take your meds — all you need is a boyfriend.” This movie deals with trauma, abuse, and mental illness in a way that never feels exploitative. It never implies that the main character, Charlie, is cured by love, but just that in that last moment we see of him, he’s alive and doing okay. In this Hangover Jr., our main character throws an (excuse me for my extreme 2012 language here) ~epic~ house party. He destroys his parents’ house and practically the whole neighborhood, but in the end, he’s a hero. Even his dad is proud of him because he proved that he has friends and he’s not a total loser after all. Oh, and he “gets the girl,” because that’s how teen movies ended 10 years ago, despite how shitty he was to her throughout the movie. Also, let’s not mistreat a dog for comedy — it’s not funny and will never be funny. Yes, the characters do dumb teenage stuff, but it fits the narrative and never feels as if there’s a bunch of 40-year-old men just offscreen telling them to be as gross and offensive as possible. I’ve never gotten past this scene, so maybe the rest of the movie holds up, but with an opening like that, I highly doubt it.
