Three Act Structure

A newly made Hollywood film that fits the three act structure discussed by Professor Ramirez-Berg is The Hangover. The three act structure worked well for this film because it is goal oriented, in chronological order, and has a happy ending.
The first act is the introduction of all the characters, tells what they are doing and why, and presents the main conflict of the film, “we lost Doug!” It develops the strongest with the car scene as they are driving to Los Vegas when you can get a sense of who each character is and how their role will play out. The peak, or mini climax, is when the four guys are on the roof giving speeches and taking shots to get the night started. Then instead of showing the action, or the night adventures, the director cuts to the next morning when they realize they have lost Doug.
The second act begins when they are outside by the pool trying to back track to figure out where Doug might be. This lays out the compilation of the film and the journey they will make: they have to find Doug in time to get him back for his wedding. The search for Doug makes up the largest part of the film, as does most Hollywood three act structured films. The next plot point in this act is when they win the $80,000 at the casino to give to the little Asian guy from the trunk to get Doug back. They soon come to find out it wasn’t “white” Doug that the Asian guy was hording from their miscommunication the night before.
The third act begins when they find Doug on the roof where they had put him the night before. This begins the resolution. Now the next order of business is getting home in time. And, what do you know, they make it home just in the nic-of-time and the wedding is saved and everyone is happy! The End.