Starsky And Hutch
The Plot:
Set in the 1970s in a metropolis called "Bay City," this is the
tale of two police detective partners, Ken "Hutch" Hutchinson (Wilson),
and Dave Starsky (Stiller), who always seem to get the toughest cases from
their boss, Captain Dobey, rely on omniscient street informer Huggy Bear (Dogg)
and race to the scene of the crimes in their souped-up 1974 Ford Torino hot
rod, telling the story of their first big case (as a prequel to the TV show),
which involved a former college campus drug dealer (Vaughn) who went on to
become a white collar criminal. (From Yahoo Movies)
My Thoughts: (Reviewed by K-Billy)
Starsky and Hutch is a remake of the classic 70s television show. Starsky (Ben Stiller) is as clean cut a cop as they come. He does everything by the book and tries to uphold the law every chance he gets. Hutch (Luke Wilson) is a loose cannon, doing things his own way, and sometimes that includes crime and bribes. So naturally the two are paired together to investigate a new drug dealer in town that’s quickly becoming a cocaine kingpin. But the two have quite a hard time working together and as a result screw up on numerous occasions.
This looked like one of the funniest movies of the early 2004 season. Ben Stiller with Luke Wilson seemed like a perfect pair and the previews looked hilarious. Now while in no way is this movie bad at all, it simply isn’t all that funny. In a strange way that totally contradicts the marketing of the movie, the film seems to take itself a little bit too seriously. At times I was laughing and then at others I found myself wondering whether this was supposed to be a throwback comedy or a serious crime film. However the jokes that are in the film certainly work in evoking a response from the audience. This film has some very funny parts.
Ben Stiller, while still suffering from overexposure in my opinion, does a good job as Starsky, but again, he is playing the same exact Stiller character that he does in all his films. The only exception here is that he’s got a perm and a really bad wardrobe. I’m beginning to wonder if he has any range at all. His crowning moment in this film comes when he puts sweetener into his coffee that turns out to be cocaine, his reaction to ingesting so much of the drug is really funny to watch. Wilson is the funnier of the two simply because I don’t feel like I’ve seen him play this person four times already. And his crooked style of police work is much more amusing. Snoop Dogg makes his little cameo in this film as the king of the streets, Huggy Bear, but I really didn’t care about him either way. The biggest treat for the audience comes in the form of a cameo by Will Ferrell as a prison inmate obsessed with dragons. While the material in this scene, really in actuality isn’t all that funny, Ferrell makes it funny. He’s that good as comedic actor.
This film is confused as to whether it wants to be a comedy or a drama. Personally I would’ve preferred it delivered as advertised as a throwback 70s era comedy but you get what you get. The acting’s average all around, although Wilson is definitely better then Stiller. There are some very nice scenes involving Carmen Electra, and Amy Smart, one including the duo sharing a same sex kiss. And don’t miss the locker room interview. While in no way is this film bad at all, it simply was perplexing. At any rate it’s the best of Stiller’s recent efforts.
Starring: Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson,
Snoop Dogg, Vince Vaughn, Fred Williamson
Directed by: Todd Phillips
Rated PG-13