Reel Advice: Portrait of an Epic Hangover

In theaters

The Hangover, Part III (WB): The Hangover, Part III, the third (no kidding) installment in the popular buddy movie/road trip series opens with an ominous Bangkok prison riot. Quickly shifting humorous gears, it's revealed that the unflappable and sexually ambiguous Chow (Ken Jeong) has escaped from his cell in the maximum security detention center.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, batty and bushy as ever Alan (Zach Galifianakis) drives down the freeway, towing his newly purchased pet giraffe behind him. But a highway underpass with a low clearing doesn't bode well. The decapitation of the giraffe not only causes a massive pile-up on the roadway, but also makes the national news.

Alan, off his meds for six months, wreaks further havoc, including bringing on his father's fatal heart attack and behaving inappropriately at the funeral. Alan's Wolf Pack pals Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms) and brother-in-law Doug (Justin Bartha) propose an intervention. You can imagine how well that goes. But Alan reluctantly agrees to go if the Pack drives him to the rehab facility in Arizona. What could possibly go wrong with that plan?

Here's what goes wrong: the foursome is abducted and brought before the ne'er do well Marshall (John Goodman). Marshall is after Chow for stealing $21 million in gold from him, half the stash from a much larger heist. Wouldn't you know it? Alan and Chow have been corresponding while Chow served his sentence. Holding Doug for ransom, Marshall sends the three remaining Pack members packing to Tijuana to meet with Chow and bring him and the gold back to the States, which proves to be easier said than done.

From a karaoke bar (where Chow sings Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt") to Chow's killer-rooster infested hideout to a nerve wracking break-in at a Mexican villa to a police station interrogation, The Hangover, Part III takes the audience to the nicest places. But the movie wouldn't be complete without one more trip to Las Vegas, where Chow has escaped to and the place Stu vowed to never return.

In Vegas, the guys enlist the help of two very special women. First, pawn-shop owner/elder abuser Cassie (Melissa McCarthy) provides the initial clue as to where Chow can be found. All the while, Alan and Cassie flirt up a storm, the connection between them a natural fit. Next, the Pack is reunited with ex-hooker Jade (Heather Graham), now married and expecting her second child. She supplies the next puzzle piece – locating Chow and his posse of sex workers in the penthouse of Caesar's Palace.

With time running out and Doug's life hanging in the balance, the guys concoct a plan to get Chow. Of course, almost everything that can go wrong does. Nevertheless, The Hangover, Part III has more than a few tricks up its sweaty sleeves and tables, as well as stomachs, will be turned. Like its predecessors, The Hangover, Part III is drunk on irreverence. Physical humor, (staged) animal cruelty, fat jokes, homophobia and anti-Semitism are just a few of the ingredients in this kooky cocktail. Taking shock value and comedic discomfort to a whole new level, The Hangover, Part III ends with vows to make life-changes and another wedding. Whether either lasts is anyone's guess.

Portrait of Jason (Milestone): It's amazing what someone will say when a movie camera is pointed at them. With encouragement from the late filmmaker Shirley Clarke, queer African-American raconteur and hustler Jason Holliday goes about "telling it all" in the pre-Stonewall, black & white film and one-man-show Portrait of Jason. Answering questions posed to him by voices (including Clarke's) from out of the frame, Jason begins by introducing himself with his given name and proceeds to tell the tale of how Jason Holliday was created in San Francisco by Sabu. He "dug" being called Jason, a name that suited his personality. Even Miles Davis called him Jason. The name gave him the strength to be himself in NYC.

Jason, who hustles and describes himself as "a stone whore," will do anything to keep from punching the clock from nine to five. "Ballin' from Maine to Mexico," Jason hasn't got a dollar to show for it, but he sure had a good time. What he really wants to do is perform.

Staying well lubricated in Clarke's Chelsea Hotel flat, Jason admits he "doesn't mean any harm, but harm is done." A "male bitch," he goes out of his way to "unglue people." Working as a houseboy for various well-to-do clients, Jason has plenty of stories about his bosses. A born entertainer, Jason utilizes his bag of props, which contains a picture hat, feather boa and other things. Impressions of Mae West and Scarlett OHara, lead to more anecdotes about Katharine Hepburn, Tennessee Williams and "white boy fever."

Promising to never "get hung up on one of those boy-boy marriages," a drunk and rambling Jason gives us glimpses of his past (daily beatings by his Alabama-born father, Brother Tough), his present (sexual escapades at the Y, with a muscle man in LA and hustling in San Francisco) and his future (the quest to raise money for his cabaret act), and is never less than beguiling.

Jason, who has "vacationed" on Rikers Island and done time at Bellevue following being arrested for gay sex, maintains his sense of humor throughout. As much a portrait of Jason as it is of the time (1967), Clarke's film is like an unearthed time capsule. (Northwest Chicago Film Society screens Portrait of Jason at 7:30 p.m. on May 29 at the Music Box Theater, 3733 N Southport Ave.)

Epic (20th Century Fox): It takes guts to call a film Epic, especially when it might not live up to the title's claim. Epic is a visual delight to see. It makes spectacular use of the 3D technology (something that can't be said for either Oz the Great and Power or The Great Gatsby – neither of which were anywhere near "great").

But on the whole, Epic isn't really all that epic. There's a certain good versus evil (the vivid Leaf Men versus the rodent-grey Boggans) familiarity to it that borders on unoriginality. Oh, yeah, don't forget the complicated and strained father/daughter relationship in need of repair. Plus, with a few exceptions (Aziz Ansari voicing slug Mub), the voices of the characters are a distraction (Beyonce and Colin Farrell, really?). Steven Tyler, voicing wise caterpillar Nim Galuu – wonder(land) where we've seen that before – gets an unnecessary and thankfully brief musical number.