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The tone is the real star of this Three Stooges movie, as is the case with most Farrely Brothers films. Despite actions that would be considered violent in the real world, the mood is whimsical and cartoonish. Typical of this is a moment where someone in a full body cast is "turtling," hiding from the stooges by impossibly ducking his head and extremities into the cast.

Having been exposed to a few reviews and viewer opinions before seeing the film, I was shocked by one thing. People had repeatedly said that the structure of three short films was a distraction and it should have instead been one single story. This causes me to question the sanity of those people and their most basic comprehension. The movie is merely decorated with a few "short film" title cards in the fashion of the old shorts; the movie is indeed one premise and follows a conventional narrative like any other feature. It's key plot is essentially the same as The Blues Brothers - the orphanage is in financial trouble and the boys have to raise money to save it.

They manage to have some interesting and organic story twists along the way. Most inspired is the idea of a Stooge pulling up a gangster's droopy-drawers.

Now some people might have to adjust to the throw-back terminology that is carried over from the old black and white films. But oddly within the context of the movie what seems anachronistic is a moment where Moe refers to an English butler as "Threepio." Even though it is a contemporary reference, it stands out against the 1930's vaudeville style of most stooges dialogue.

Clearly this movie was made out of love for the stooges and there is a charm found even in less likable characters. This doesn't mean that people under 20 years of age will "get" it. They should, although the fashionable thing to say is WTF. Whatever the case, if you don't get it or don't like it the fault is not that of the filmmakers. Even in parts where I didn't laugh outright I found the groove of the movie fun and engaging. Interesting that the guy who plays Moe also has played Robin Williams and Frank Sinatra.

The one story continuity flaw I noticed had to do with Moe's discovery when he happens to have a fight on stage with the other two. . .and later the producer sees them together again and says "There's three of them?" He had already seen the other two during the unwitting audition scene which Larry and Curly walked out on. But other than that odd speed bump, it's a solid effort.

I won't compare it to James Frawley's biopic The Three Stooges which Mel Gibson produced for pay TV a while back. That had Californication's Evan Handler as Larry and The Shield's Michael Chiklis as Curly, but it got into the sad story of their real lives and the way they were exploited. Performances in both are spot-on.

I'm pushing 60. I've been a fan of the original Three Stooges for almost my whole life. Got all the DVDs. Read most of the books. In all that time, I have seen many imitators of all 6 Stooge-members, including Moe, Larry, Curly, Shemp, Joe Besser and Curly Joe deRita. In these guys (Hayes, Sasso & Diamondapoulos), I've never seen anyone come nearly as close to the original Larry Curly & Moe. And that includes the three actors who portrayed the boys in the 2000 TV-movie bio-pic. But it isn't just that. It's the Writing and Directing of the Farrelly brothers here that really does the trick. The funniest things the original comedy trio did were the rapid-fire slapping, poking and punching, set to hilariously beautiful sound-effects. That is all presented here, perhaps even more often than in the original short films of the '30s & '40s. The time is just right for all this. This is another nostalgia trip for baby-boomers like me and so many others today. Presented in the form of one continuous 90-minute story divided into three 30-minute "short films," even the pace is perfect. I was a little leary of the brothers' apparent "need" to include Jersey Shore cast-members into the film, but that decision turned out okay. Loved this hilarious, fast-paced comedy film. ***1/2 out of ****

If you still watch the old Three Stooges Shorts from way back when and appreciate their humor, there's no reason you won't love this movie. The setting is contemporary, with iphone's and the jersey shore and what not, but this setting is only used to further punctuate the timeless humor of the stooges. All three actors who portray the stooges do a flawless job and make you actually forget that they are not the originals halfway through the movie. It's as if Larry, Curly and Moe have been pulled out of time and placed into today's society getting into the same type of trouble and running the same type of gags they always would. There really isn't a better way the Three Stooges could have been portrayed in this day and age. The Farrelly brothers do an incredible job doing the character of the Stooges justice, weaving a fantastic Stooge-esque plot and transporting these lovable nitwits into the present day. Heck the Farrelly brothers even made sure to include the classic title slides seen before every Stooges short. It's for this reason I give this movie an extremely high rating, not because it's a profound comedy, but because it had one goal: recreate the enduring humor of the Three Stooges, and with that goal in mind this movie overwhelmingly succeeds.

Sorry but this is a self-indulgent review but I felt compelled. I saw this movie with my daughter when she was young. Left the theater thinking the movie was so-so, but my daughter liked it. For some reason the event is a memory for me as one of the last movies I went to with her as a "kids" movie. I am writing this more as sharing a few movies in my life have been associated with events rather than the movie itself. I think I have about 5 movies in my life that fall into this category.

In 2021 with the movie industry distribution system, ie going to movie theaters, is in a state of flux and going with your kids to a weekend movie at the theater may disappear. I believe when you go somewhere a memory can be firmer over time. So if taking the kids to the movie theater is going to disappear there's some downside to it. However when our family of 4 goes/went when all is said and done it's close to $80. If my kids were still young I know for this reason alone we would go to the the theater, vs streaming, a lot less.

You know, when I read that Peter and Bobby Farrelly were going to make a movie starring actors impersonating The Three Stooges, I was a little skeptical especially when the announced stars were people like Sean Penn and Benicio Del Toro. But they calmed down and instead cast actors like Sean Hayes, Will Sasso, and Chris Diamantopoulos who did fine in acting exactly like Larry, Curly, and Moe, respectively, when portraying the legendary comics. And while there's somewhat of a sentimental plot involving some orphan kids, it never goes in treacly territory as there's always some wonderfully staged slapstick scenes that undercuts that. Oh, and there's also some hilarious scenes involving the cast of "Jersey Shore". In summary, this version of The Three Stooges is highly recommended for anyone not minding seeing this legendary comedy team played by other actors or anyone who haven't even heard of them yet and wants to see more of them.