Unzertrennlich

I was worried with the 5.6 rating this was going to be average at best but it's so well acted and delivered I can't understand who didn't like it. It avoids cheap jokes at the expense of the brother's conjoined condition yet delivers laugh after laugh in a good-natured and fun way. Damon and Kinnear deliver high quality character depth with warmth and charm, well above midnight double feature level and the star cast nods are icing on the cake. The film is just good fun all the way through. Well worth the time to watch it and it seems it is a somewhat overlooked classy film.

This was one of my top films for 2003. In general I am not a fan of the Farelly brothers, but I had enjoyed Shallow Hal, and Stuck on You got good reviews from our local paper, which is rare. One thing that had impressed me about Shallow Hal is that the things that you would think were completely illogical were addressed reasonably. The most obvious thought with the casting was that Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear are not even that close in age. Sure enough, early in the film they explain that Matt's character has most of the liver, so Greg's character is aging faster. I don't know if it is scientifically sound, but it works in the context of the film. That is one thing that is nice about the movie. The film has plenty of sight gags and easy humor, but there are also obscure references and delightful surprises that remind you that the film has a brain. It also has a heart, and Damon and Kinnear have a nice brotherly rapport.

Of the supporting cast, Eva Mendes is easily the most fun, and gets the best lines. There are also enjoyable turns with Meryl Streep, Griffin Dunne, and Cher starts out as her own worst caricature, but ends up showing a heart as well. Many other familiar faces pop up, including people you have seen as bit parts in the directors' other films.

Finally, I have to say I was really impressed with the connection between the two bodies. Very realistic looking make-up job.

*** out of ****

Well, it had to happen sooner or later. The Farrelly Brothers had to mature (somewhat) at some point and make a film that didn't rely on sex or gross-out jokes. That is apparently the case with Stuck On You, the Farrellys latest and tamest, but it's also one of their sweetest and funniest films to date.

Bob and Walt Tenor (Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear) are conjoined twins who've spent their whole lives in Martha's Vineyard. Bob is the owner of a burger restaurant and Walt is an actor who performs plays for the town's audience, but he has bigger ambitions; he wants to be a Hollywood actor, much to the chagrin of Bob, who suffers from a distinct case of stagefright. But after some discussion and compromise, they agree to move to L.A. and start a new life for themselves.

Upon arrival, Bob and Walt meet the friendly but ditzy April (Eva Mendes), one of their neighbors in the apartment they've just moved into. Bob even meets his internet pen-pal May (Wen Yann Shih), but because he's never told her he has a conjoined twin, he has to "bring" along Walt on their first date together. As for Walt's Hollywood dreams, after some initial lack of success, he's chosen by Cher herself to co-star with her on her new show, "Honey and the Beaze," in an attempt by Cher to sabotage her own series. But the show is an unexpected success thanks to Walt's burgeoning popularity, which puts a crimp in his relationship with Bob.

Reviewing comedies has always been a bit difficult for me, which is why I usually stick to the stuff that I find easier to write about (action/adventure, horror, drama, anything but comedy), but given all the knocks this film has taken (particularly the fact that barely anybody saw it in theaters) I felt a slight sense of obligation to mention that Stuck On You is the funniest and most touching comedy I've seen in recent memory.

This is not to say that the film always had me choking with laughter (though a scene involving a guy in front of his typewriter did get the biggest laugh out of me all year), but rather that it consistently delivered smiles, chuckles, and solid laughs without ever bogging down, no easy feat for a movie that runs for just under two hours.

Aside from the lack of sexual humor, there's a major difference between the style of comedy the Farrellys employ here than in some of their prior films. Whereas many their previous works have often made fun of the people that suffer from certain "disorders," Stuck On You presents us with two friendly, easy-going guys who've grown accustomed to their situation and choose not to see their conjoined liver as a handicap. Rather, the film derives its humor from the way "outsiders" view their condition.

In the film's two lead roles, Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear boast the kind of comic chemistry that most actors can only dream of. Damon, in particular, excels by taking the more "straight man" role, where he's not actually aiming for any laughs but still gets them anyway, maybe even more than the typically hilarious Kinnear. Watching these two guys stuck together reminds me why I find them two of the most likable actors in Hollywood, even when most of Kinnear's characters are generally abrasive losers (but not in this case). It is, in fact, Damon and Kinnear that make the film as wonderfully entertaining as it is. Had not even half of the jokes worked as well as they did, their performances would still warrant this movie a passable recommendation.

Stuck On You doesn't always juggle its various subplots perfectly; while Wen Yann Shih does play well into the film, a lot of brief cameos and a wide assortment of characters aren't meshed in as well. Worst of all is Cher, who's neither funny nor particularly convincing as the "bitch" she's made out to be. I have no idea if this says more about her personality or her acting skills.

Most of the Farrellys comedies generally tend to dissipate in the last half-hour or so, replacing its humor with more sincere attempts at trying to make their irascible and/or "cad-like" protagonists learn a lesson or two. The magic of Stuck On You is that its protagonists are always the same throughout, making no genuine "it's a miracle!" revelations about themselves at the last minute; after all, brotherly love is still brotherly love.

When the last twenty minutes threaten to devolve into sentimental clap-trap, the Farrellys punch in the necessary humor that defuses any of the building sap (spoiler:I think my favorite scene in the whole film is when Bob and Walt re-unite after parting their separate ways, in a scene that's both hilarious and touching), making the film sweet without getting too sweet. The Farrellys have made a lot of funny movies, but this is the first of theirs I can recommend to just about anyone.

To be honest, I am still a little amazed at how much I liked this film. I resisted seeing it for a long time because the concept sounded so offensive. But offensive is the last word I would use to describe this movie. Hilarious would be more accurate. The conjoined twin thing never feels like fodder for cheap jokes. Yes, it plays prominently in the plot, but it just never feels like you are laughing at them, only with them. There is genuine affection for the two main characters, played expertly by Damon and Kinnear, that really shines thru. To be absolutely honest, a lot of what makes this film so incredible is hard (for me, at least) to describe. All I can say is that it's funny, it's touching, it's a bit of Farrelly brothers magic. See it, you won't regret it.

I'm actually a big Farrelly Brothers fan (and not just because they're from Rhode Island). So, it's with great reluctance that I write a less than stellar review of "Stuck On You".

It's not a horrible film, but like many recent Farrelly releases it's muddled and illustrates a tug of war between the movies the Farrellys want to make the and movies the Farrelly's fans want them to make.

"Stuck On You" tells the tale of Bob and Walt Tenor, conjoined twins who live a good, peaceful life on Nantucket Island. That is until Walt (played by Greg Kinnear) catches the acting bug and wants to move to LA. The story and gags from there mostly revolve around a fish-out-of-water story (but two fish joined at the side) and the brothers' ongoing ignorance of their own condition.

At one point, Bob (played by Matt Damon) tells Walt that he'll never make it in acting. Why? Because he needs a better tan. Though these aren't the idiot gags that we all enjoyed in "Dumb & Dumber". In fact, both of the brothers are very bright. Their ignorance is more a function of their being so close (physically and emotionally) for such a long period of time and because back home everyone accepted them completely. They've become blind to their own handicap.

It's a nice message and it is delivered poignantly at times. More often, though, we're hammered with it over and over again while the Farrellys do their best to make the movie look more like one of their more celebrated, more tasteless, and funnier movies like "Dumb & Dumber", "Something About Mary", or "Me, Myself and Irene".

In all of the latter movies, there was no illusion that we were there primarily there for the gutter chuckles, but each movie also had characters we really liked. Let's face it. We were all rooting for Lloyd and Harry in "Dumb and Dumber" even if they were morons.

In "Stuck On You", the main characters are all a lot flatter than what we've seen before. Plus, one of the most disappointing aspects in "Stuck On You" is the poor use of the minor characters. In previous movies we got some of our biggest laughs from the sideline characters, while in "Stuck On You" they're used mostly as window dressing. Eva Mendes is primarily a cleavage delivery device in "Stuck On You", which is a shame because she's not a bad actress and she could have some comedic chops.

How are Greg Kinnear and Matt Damon in this film? They both do as good as can be expected. We're not used to seeing Damon in comedic films (his last was "Dogma"), and I think he does comedy very well. I'm reluctant to comment directly on their performances because it's not fair. The characters are flat and that's not their fault.

Sadly, this isn't a fluke for the Farrellys. It's part of an ongoing trend. Their animated movie, "Osmosis Joe", more closely resembled a feature-length public health announcement starring Chris Rock and Bill Murray. "Shallow Hal" dealt with superficiality in much heavier, dramatic tones than we were led to believe in the movie's trailers.*

In "Stuck On You", the Farrellys try to swerve back to their poop-and-fart-joke roots, but deep down you can tell they want to make more serious, thematic movies.

I would have no problem if the Farrellys decided to do a more serious, dramatic film. I would also have no problem if the Farrellys decided to do more locker-room humor comedies. But I do have a problem with them trying to do both at the same time. It's just not working.

* NOTE - While I'm not shopping for the DVD, I did enjoy "Shallow Hal" once I realized (and accepted) that the movie was a lot heavier than the trailers depicted. That said, there were a lot of people in the cinema who were expecting something like "Dumb & Dumber" and they were plenty unhappy about it. I don't blame them.