Trying to Stink and Something Happens
If Robert Altman's Popeye proved that you don't necessarily need to be a hardcore fan of a particular character in order to create a good movie about said character, the 2012 Farrelly Brothers version of the Three Stooges proved the exact opposite: that you can be as big a fan of a particular character -- even three particular characters -- and still bomb out if you don't have the cleverness to back it up. Of course, one might argue that you don't exactly expect cleverness from a Three Stooges movie, and that is true. But even the most lowbrow comedy has to have some standards; otherwise, all lowbrow comedies would share the exact same level of popularity.
In any event, the Stooges have always been at their best in their short subjects -- especially the early shorts with Jerome "Curly" Howard -- so the idea of a modern-day Three Stooges movie kinda misses the point. Unfortunately, modern-day Hollywood doesn't go in for short subjects anymore; indeed, modern-day Hollywood often doesn't seem to give a damn whether you actually enjoy the movie or not as long as they can make enough money off of product placements, DVDs, movie soundtracks and other movie tie-ins. Thus, it seems a wonder that the Farrellys found money for a Three Stooges project at all. That said...
It would be nice to say that The Three Stooges was every bit as awesome as the original short subjects or that all it lacked was a pie fight or two but I would be lying if I said any of that. In fact, I found The Three Stooges to be quite mediocre at best when it wasn't quite awful.
On the bright side, actors Chris Diamantopoulos, Sean Hayes and Will Sasso do a good job of imitating the original Stooges and bringing off some of their more familiar slapstick routines. On the not so bright side, the Farrelly Brothers' decision to add toilet humor to the Stooges' comic routines -- at one point substituting a duel with urinating infants for the classic pie fight -- does not exactly improve matters. Poor Sofía Vergara gets stuck in the classic femme fatale role usually reserved in the original shorts for classic Stooge hand Christine McIntyre and Larry David plays a nun in drag for seemingly little reason apart from the fact that he could.
Craig Bierko plays a bad guy named Mac who allegedly loves Vergara's character Lydia but wishes to kill her wealthy husband first because he is far more in love with the idea of helping her inherit her husband's estate. He tries to hire the Stooges to help him pull off this dirty deed but unfortunately, the Stooges are so dumb they can't even be corrupted in the right manner.
I must confess that when I first found out about this subplot, I was surprised that the Farrelly Brothers bothered to include it. After all, the classic Stooges were basically at heart good guys and while they were hardly the most dedicated of workers and were usually in little danger of being mistaken for Boy Scouts, they were still a long way from being the type of characters who would seriously considering murder for hire, no matter how badly they needed the money. In fact, it was usually the Stooges who ended up bringing real crooks to justice in some of their better shorts.
So while it seemed obvious that the Farrelly Brothers would find a way to keep the Stooges from going through with Mac's scheme, they could not resist teasing the audience with the idea the Stooges might be would-be killers, after all -- which only goes to show that the Farrelly Brothers did not understand the appeal of the original Stooges as well as they thought they did.
Anyway, it would be nice to pretend that one subplot was the only thing wrong with this movie but it was not. Indeed, while some attempts to drag the Stooges into the 21th century were pretty funny (for example, the I-phone joke displayed in the trailer), yet others -- like the dueling infant scene mentioned above -- were not. In any event, the original shorts are still available on DVD for anyone who is still genuinely nostalgic for the Stooges and I suspect all but the most desperate fans would be more satisfied with said shorts anyway.
As for the movie, the most charitable thing that could be said about it was that it could have been worse. But then I could say that about a lot of bad movies.
At least now I will be no longer curious to see what a Three Stooges movie would look like if it were made with 21st century technology. So I have to thank the Farrelly Brothers for at least that much.
If Robert Altman's Popeye proved that you don't necessarily need to be a hardcore fan of a particular character in order to create a good movie about said character, the 2012 Farrelly Brothers version of the Three Stooges proved the exact opposite: that you can be as big a fan of a particular character -- even three particular characters -- and still bomb out if you don't have the cleverness to back it up. Of course, one might argue that you don't exactly expect cleverness from a Three Stooges movie, and that is true. But even the most lowbrow comedy has to have some standards; otherwise, all lowbrow comedies would share the exact same level of popularity.
In any event, the Stooges have always been at their best in their short subjects -- especially the early shorts with Jerome "Curly" Howard -- so the idea of a modern-day Three Stooges movie kinda misses the point. Unfortunately, modern-day Hollywood doesn't go in for short subjects anymore; indeed, modern-day Hollywood often doesn't seem to give a damn whether you actually enjoy the movie or not as long as they can make enough money off of product placements, DVDs, movie soundtracks and other movie tie-ins. Thus, it seems a wonder that the Farrellys found money for a Three Stooges project at all. That said...
It would be nice to say that The Three Stooges was every bit as awesome as the original short subjects or that all it lacked was a pie fight or two but I would be lying if I said any of that. In fact, I found The Three Stooges to be quite mediocre at best when it wasn't quite awful.
On the bright side, actors Chris Diamantopoulos, Sean Hayes and Will Sasso do a good job of imitating the original Stooges and bringing off some of their more familiar slapstick routines. On the not so bright side, the Farrelly Brothers' decision to add toilet humor to the Stooges' comic routines -- at one point substituting a duel with urinating infants for the classic pie fight -- does not exactly improve matters. Poor Sofía Vergara gets stuck in the classic femme fatale role usually reserved in the original shorts for classic Stooge hand Christine McIntyre and Larry David plays a nun in drag for seemingly little reason apart from the fact that he could.
Craig Bierko plays a bad guy named Mac who allegedly loves Vergara's character Lydia but wishes to kill her wealthy husband first because he is far more in love with the idea of helping her inherit her husband's estate. He tries to hire the Stooges to help him pull off this dirty deed but unfortunately, the Stooges are so dumb they can't even be corrupted in the right manner.
I must confess that when I first found out about this subplot, I was surprised that the Farrelly Brothers bothered to include it. After all, the classic Stooges were basically at heart good guys and while they were hardly the most dedicated of workers and were usually in little danger of being mistaken for Boy Scouts, they were still a long way from being the type of characters who would seriously considering murder for hire, no matter how badly they needed the money. In fact, it was usually the Stooges who ended up bringing real crooks to justice in some of their better shorts.
So while it seemed obvious that the Farrelly Brothers would find a way to keep the Stooges from going through with Mac's scheme, they could not resist teasing the audience with the idea the Stooges might be would-be killers, after all -- which only goes to show that the Farrelly Brothers did not understand the appeal of the original Stooges as well as they thought they did.
Anyway, it would be nice to pretend that one subplot was the only thing wrong with this movie but it was not. Indeed, while some attempts to drag the Stooges into the 21th century were pretty funny (for example, the I-phone joke displayed in the trailer), yet others -- like the dueling infant scene mentioned above -- were not. In any event, the original shorts are still available on DVD for anyone who is still genuinely nostalgic for the Stooges and I suspect all but the most desperate fans would be more satisfied with said shorts anyway.
As for the movie, the most charitable thing that could be said about it was that it could have been worse. But then I could say that about a lot of bad movies.
At least now I will be no longer curious to see what a Three Stooges movie would look like if it were made with 21st century technology. So I have to thank the Farrelly Brothers for at least that much.
Labels: Chris Diamantopoulos, Craig Bierko, Larry David, Los Hermanos Farrelly, Los Tres Chiflados, Los Tres Chiflados 2012, Películas Nuevas IV, Sean Hayes, Sofía Vergara, Will Sasso
posted by Tonio Kruger at 6:16 PM
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