Review: Starsky & Hutch
March 29, 2004; Loew’s Boston Common #7
* * 3/4 (out of 4)
This will be the first time I ever talk about a movie, and utter the words, “Snoop Dogg was the best part.” Trust me, this is not something I ever thought I’d say, but I had high expectations of funny for this Owen Wilson/Ben Stiller comedy, and while there were some amusing parts, I left feeling kind of disappointed with the whole thing. In this case, Snoop rises about the rest of the cast, including the normally sidesplitting starring duo.
The movie serves a sort of prequel to the hit TV show of the seventies. David Starsky (Stiller) is a tightly-wound, straight-laced cop whose job is his life. Every investigation is by the book, and to him, crime has no levels; a purse thief has the same priority as homicide. This is a stark contrast with Ken Hutchinson (Wilson), who cleans out illegal booking houses (without filing reports or making arrests) as a way to supplement his police salary. Bay City Police Captain Doby (Fred Williamson) makes the two partners, hoping they’ll drive each other nuts instead of him. Starsky & Hutch head out to investigate rumors of a huge sale of undetectable cocaine, grating against each other in a sometimes-funny manner until they learn to trust each other.
I don’t know… maybe I was expecting too much from Stiller and Wilson, but after The Royal Tenenbaums and Zoolander together, everyone knows this could have been so much more. It looked like they were trying as hard as they could, but it also became pretty apparent that the movie was written with them in mind; there are ample opportunities for Stiller to make weird faces and move awkwardly, and Wilson’s sex-driven Hutch feels and sounds a lot like Roy O’Bannon of Shanghai Noon. The funnier moments of the movie come from Snoop’s Huggy Bear, who he wears like a second skin – Huggy complaining about wearing a wire is about the funniest whining ever. Also worthwhile is Vince Vaugn playing Reese Feldman, a.k.a. “The Villain.” His stuff is pretty standard fare, but Vaugn does well to make this guy the sleaziest dealer possible, hiding behind his family in some hilarious scenes (his daughter’s bat mitzvah).
One upside to the writing is that it would have been very easy, especially with Stiller and Wilson, to turn this into a mockery of the present 70s culture, but that isn’t done. The setting and surroundings are taken seriously, and are presented authentically. Though I wasn’t around in the 70s, I never had a moment when I looked at anything and said “that shouldn’t be there.”
This is a decent movie with some funny parts; I guess I’ve just come to expect a bit more from Stiller and Wilson. Don’t blame it on them, though… credit there goes to the writing, which seems like it was written to appease their fans, not give them something new to do in a made-for-comedy setting like that of the TV show.
March 29, 2004; Loew’s Boston Common #7
* * 3/4 (out of 4)
This will be the first time I ever talk about a movie, and utter the words, “Snoop Dogg was the best part.” Trust me, this is not something I ever thought I’d say, but I had high expectations of funny for this Owen Wilson/Ben Stiller comedy, and while there were some amusing parts, I left feeling kind of disappointed with the whole thing. In this case, Snoop rises about the rest of the cast, including the normally sidesplitting starring duo.
The movie serves a sort of prequel to the hit TV show of the seventies. David Starsky (Stiller) is a tightly-wound, straight-laced cop whose job is his life. Every investigation is by the book, and to him, crime has no levels; a purse thief has the same priority as homicide. This is a stark contrast with Ken Hutchinson (Wilson), who cleans out illegal booking houses (without filing reports or making arrests) as a way to supplement his police salary. Bay City Police Captain Doby (Fred Williamson) makes the two partners, hoping they’ll drive each other nuts instead of him. Starsky & Hutch head out to investigate rumors of a huge sale of undetectable cocaine, grating against each other in a sometimes-funny manner until they learn to trust each other.
I don’t know… maybe I was expecting too much from Stiller and Wilson, but after The Royal Tenenbaums and Zoolander together, everyone knows this could have been so much more. It looked like they were trying as hard as they could, but it also became pretty apparent that the movie was written with them in mind; there are ample opportunities for Stiller to make weird faces and move awkwardly, and Wilson’s sex-driven Hutch feels and sounds a lot like Roy O’Bannon of Shanghai Noon. The funnier moments of the movie come from Snoop’s Huggy Bear, who he wears like a second skin – Huggy complaining about wearing a wire is about the funniest whining ever. Also worthwhile is Vince Vaugn playing Reese Feldman, a.k.a. “The Villain.” His stuff is pretty standard fare, but Vaugn does well to make this guy the sleaziest dealer possible, hiding behind his family in some hilarious scenes (his daughter’s bat mitzvah).
One upside to the writing is that it would have been very easy, especially with Stiller and Wilson, to turn this into a mockery of the present 70s culture, but that isn’t done. The setting and surroundings are taken seriously, and are presented authentically. Though I wasn’t around in the 70s, I never had a moment when I looked at anything and said “that shouldn’t be there.”
This is a decent movie with some funny parts; I guess I’ve just come to expect a bit more from Stiller and Wilson. Don’t blame it on them, though… credit there goes to the writing, which seems like it was written to appease their fans, not give them something new to do in a made-for-comedy setting like that of the TV show.
posted by Matt S. at
12:30 PM
