Monday 10 December 2012

The Three Stooges Review

When this one was in the theatres, I gave it a pass.  I had no interest in watching a remake of a franchise that I never had much interest in to begin with.  And, although I do like Will Sasso, I am not a fan of Sean Hayes' work.  Add in that remakes are usually not nearly as good as original franchises and it just didn't seem like a good use of my time.  Then, a friend from work recommended it and I had a couple hours and was in the mood for mindless comedy.  I must say, I was mistaken and this was actually a very good use of my time.

That is not to say that it isn't mindless.  It is very mindless.  But I believe the original Three Stooges were too.    And while constant bopping in the face and calling people "knucklehead" does get tiring after a while (ie. Jackass), for some reason, this one entertained all the way through.  The key to that is is that is was made by the Farrelly brothers (something I didn't realize at first).  Those guys really know comedy.  In order to remake the franchise decently, they did two key things.  First, they modernized it and made it a "fish out of water story."  This gave it a second dimension that allowed for a little bit of character development.  Second, they used some smart writing, both in dialogue and situation.  While the original stooges did get up to stupid shenanigans, it was all pretty much in your face.  The Farrelly's used some very clever subtlety in the writing to maintain the viewer's attention.

Another aspect that makes this a very good film is the casting.  All three of the stooges are cast perfectly.  Sasso was born to play Curly.  Hayes is surprisingly good as Larry.  And Chris Diamantopoulus is great as the a-hole, Moe.  All three acted like the originals in a modern setting and all three were done up well to look the part.

The only drawback I found was in the production quality.  It very much has a "sound stage" feel to it throughout that takes away from any realism.  But, it's a remake of a ridiculous franchise where people are perfectly fine after taking a running chainsaw to the forehead.  So realism isn't priority one.

See it.  It's surprisingly funny and smart.

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