Lame, but funny at times

Rating: 7/10 (6 May 2014)

II is the funniest; I comes second (despite being the original); III is not funny at all.
Having seen this movie twice now, I can report that it is generally a lame and unbelievable film, but one that succeeds in generating a stream of chuckles and the occasional guffaw.
The humour is generated almost completely by Alan (Zach Galifianakis) and to a lesser extent by Mr Chow (Ken Jeong). Stu (Ed Helms) is funny but some of his scenes are forced. He's there to be the geeky normal guy who has abnormal things happen to him. Phil (Bradley Cooper) is there to add physical appeal, magnetism and leadership to the group. It's an odd grouping, but it works to a certain extent.
This "man movie" is low-brow escapist humour based on the absurd conceit that ordinary straight American white guys who lead rather boring lives are, deep down, wild party animals who do the funniest and most amazing things when they get wasted in Vegas.
The movie reflects the experience that most male moviegoers have had of getting wasted in their youth and doing stupid things. "It wasn't really stupid after all! It was pretty cool!!" Sorry, but throwing up on the lawn is not the same as stealing a tiger from Mike Tyson.
Part of the morality play at the heart of this movie is "boys will be boys at a bachelor party" and "you're not really responsible for what you do if you got so wasted that you can't even remember it". The title is misleading, because the memory lapse doesn't come from alcohol but from ruphies. Most of us who have gotten wasted can (unfortunately) remember the stupid things we did.
At the end, I was thinking that another part of this American morality play was this: "nothing must ever be allowed to disrupt the bride's perfect wedding".
This movie took almost an hour to set up the hangover. Too long.