Starsky & Hutch, Justiça em Dobro

So any time you mix a Will Ferrell, Ben Stiller, Todd Phillips, Wilson brother, and/or Vince Vaughn these days... you're pretty much guaranteed greatness (or at least a box office success). Will this train to gravy town ever end? Not with "Starsky" it won't... another winner. (This time with Juliette Lewis -- her first time? -- and Snoop Dogg -- also in "Old School" -- thrown in.) The film is full of great moments, from the dissertation on the sovereignty of Luxembourg to the return of the Dan Band (again, "Old School").

Chris Penn's appearance was sad... but if this was one of his last films, at least he left an impact in this world. Thanks, Chris, I love you.

I should also mention the soundtrack is spectacular - bringing back old hits that time has forgotten, much like "Dodgeball". All over, this film was very enjoyable and I'll probably end up watching it over and over again on those cold Wisconsin nights.

As for the plot, it's two cops in the 1970s working undercover and disco dancing, while making out with Carmen Electra and fighting Will Ferrell and Vince Vaughn in cheesy mustaches. If that's not your cup of tea, move on... but if it is, you'll probably love this film as much as some of the others (although this film is not as good as "Dodgeball" or "Anchorman", if that's what you think I'm getting at.)

What is with these losers complaining that this movie isn't a "true" remake of the original series? Starsky and Hutch isn't a sacred cinematic piece of art, it was a silly 70s cop show for crying out loud.

The only thing hurting this movie was the expectations. With Stiller, Wilson, Vaughn, and Ferrell you expect some sort of comedic nuclear bomb. Unfortunately with that many actors, some get underused. In this case it was Vaughn and Ferrell. Ferrell only had one humorous scene and Vaughn was almost completely wasted. When Vaughn started to make fun of the mimes (one line), I was waiting for him to keep going into his typical wiseass/a*****e humor that I so love....but he stopped. So the comedic focus is on Stiller and Wilson.

Think of the movie as along the same comic level as Zoolander. For 70s buffs, there are alot of references to that era, some are obvious while others are rather obscure (Wilson's song). This is a very good, but not great, movie.

The tale of two oddball police detectives who have a habit of getting stuck in awkward situations even with the best of intentions. Starsky (Ben Stiller) is very much by-the-book – embarrassingly so – whereas Hutch has a laid back rather ‘hippy' approach to the rules. One of the films great strengths is that it plays on satire and keeps the action secondary. The two main characters are ably aided and abetted by Huggy Bear (Snoop Dogg) and, although there is a big-drugs-bust plotline, the movie's main intention seems to be to make a homage to the style and clichés of certain 70s filmmaking (and the original TV show); car chases, for instance, focus on tongue-in-cheek action rather than adrenalin, and the cops' love of empty-headed curvaceous women combined with a homophobia towards each other and gay men is portrayed laughingly as an echo of the attitudes of the times rather than appealing to those sentiments. Not the sort of comedy I expected to enjoy so much personally, but I quickly warmed to this movie and found the feelgood factor continued unabated till the end.

Continuing the recent success of comedies starring Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughan et al "Starsky and Hutch" is an immensely creative, though sometimes annoying, comedy about two cops with totally opposite characters after a rich drug dealer. Quite clearly, the point of the movie isn't the crime detection at all... the film becomes a hilarious spoof of the 70s culture, still paying homage to the original TV show.

And the comedy is pretty evident. Starsky and Hutch may be of opposite personalities but they have one thing in common, they are buffoons. And with Stiller and Wilson playing them, it's just fun to watch them embark on all those hilarious mishaps. The role by Snoop Dogg is also a hit. Vaughan plays the no-nonsense drug lord with a brilliant serious air around him. Carmen Electra, Amy Smart and Juliette Lewis only add to the fun with their 70s-type 'brainless babe' roles.

It'd take a long time to mention the funny scenes, because they are plenty. I'd rather point out the ones that I found rather annoying... like the mime act scene or the jail interview scene. But that's okay, these films are supposed to have few shots of such crude sense of humor and I've known many who'd actually like them. The story, by the way, could have been a bit more dramatic. Besides these minor complaints, 'Starsky and Hutch' scores good.

Hand on heart I did not want to watch this film. Although I grew up with the TV series and really enjoyed it, when the film was released I have to say that I was not keen, I can not put my finger on why, perhaps it was Stiller, who, Something About Mary apart, has never really done it for me. But what ever the reason, it remained unveiwed.

That was 2004 - Xmas 2006 and I get DVD vouchers, so In the January sales off I go to see what I can get, I do quite well, but have £3 remaining, I have 2 or 3 to chose from 2 I have already seen, and Starsky & Hutch.....So I bought it.......yet still it was unwatched until yesterday.......hungover and feeling a little lazy I needed something to pass the time that was easy to watch, funny, and not too taxing.....so on it goes.

How surprised was I then when after only a few minutes I was giggling away. Stiller was actually entertaining and I was enjoying watching him, Mr Wilson was very good and I got the vibe that the characters gelled as the ones in the TV series did. Vaughan was a good baddie, and Snoop was hight entertaining if not as camp Huggy Bear! All in all this is a good solid comedy film, not brilliant don't get me wrong, but worth a watch.