10 Terrible Plot Twists From Otherwise Awesome Movies
5. The Hangover - Doug Was On The Roof The Whole Time
Some aspects of The Hangover have aged poorly, no denying it, yet the film has endured nonetheless, thanks to its lovable performances, consistent laughs, and its surprisingly clever mystery plot. It's ironic, then, that the solution to said mystery is so dumb.
In The Hangover, a bachelor party goes wrong, and the groom, Doug (Justin Bartha), goes missing. His best friends (Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms) and future brother-in-law (Zach Galifianakis) try to track him down, even though they themselves have no memory of the previous night. Eventually, just when all seems lost, a throwaway remark from a drug dealer causes Stu (Helms) to work out where Doug really is - he's been on the roof of the hotel this whole time.
Right... how did no-one find him? Doesn't this massive resort have any CCTV? And furthermore, even if a door that could only be opened from the other side was blocking his path to the stairs, Doug could've made a bit more effort to get rescued. The other three went on a complicated treasure hunt around Vegas to find Doug, and they were just as hungover as he was.
In another example of irony, the film's 2011 sequel is basically a carbon copy of this one, only set in Thailand. Despite how completely risible that follow-up mostly was, it did actually come up with a far better solution for where the missing person was.