Rating of
2.5/4
The Three Stooges (2012)
Sploich - wrote on 04/15/12
Moe (Chris Diamantopoulos), Larry (Sean Hayes) and Curly (Will Sasso) are three brothers who grew up in an orphanage and drove the nuns into both an insane asylum and bankruptcy. When they find out that the orphanage is going to go under, they set out to raise the money to save their home. Unfortunately, their bumbling, dimwittedness and constant bickering gets them in trouble more often than not.
We’ve been seeing an awful lot of movies lately made by directors who are pining for that nostalgia of childhood. They are remembering the films they grew up with and wanting to bring the joy that was brought to them to the newer generations. Hell, half the movies nominated for Best Picture earlier this year were send-offs to a simpler time in filmmaking. This is that kind of movie for the Farrelly brothers, and you can really feel that heart all the way through the film. The problem is that the Farrelly brothers themselves are terrible filmmakers and that while their hearts were in the right place, their skills were no better here than they were in any of their other films.
That’s not to say this movie isn’t entertaining. I have to say that as far as stretching a bunch of slapstick vaudeville pieces from the earlier days of filmmaking into an hour and a half feature film in 2012 that is still accessible to moviegoers both young and old, this movie delivers (and that’s a pretty specific list right there). A lot of the slapstick is either a rendition of or straight up stolen from the original shorts, but it’s all done faithfully and feels as if it was choreographed by somebody who knew what they were doing. Some of the more original stuff was downright genius. Unfortunately most of the more original stuff is updated and frankly either too violent or too crude to be funny. When it hits (so to speak), it hits really well and when it doesn’t, you’re able to brush it off because there’s another good hit that comes along soon after.
This movie had to have the greatest casting in a film I’ve seen in years. All three of the leads do an unbelievably spectacular job as the stooges. They all mimic the voices and gestures of their counterparts perfectly and they’re all able to deliver the blows with just the right timing and humor to make them work. I’ve never heard of Diamantopoulos, but he proved to be not only a great Moe, but a pretty good actor in general and I’d like to see him again soon. Will Sasso has always been the best thing that ever came out of the utterly miserable excuse for a sketch comedy known as MadTV, and here he proved that he’s still got it. Probably the biggest shock though was Sean Hayes, who I’d completely written off due to his stint on Will & Grace. Here he’s a completely different actor, proving to be a really great comedian who I’m going to have to give a second shot.
If slapstick just isn’t your thing, and you’ve never liked the stooges to begin with, this is not the movie for you. If you want to relive the classic shorts with a modern twist, this movie comes with a high recommendation from me. And if you’re going into this with a chip on your shoulder, thinking nobody should touch your beloved stooges, then why are you even reading this in the first place?
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