Customer Reviews

Starsky & Hutch (Full Screen Edition)

5 star:		(45)
4 star:		(53)
3 star:		(38)
2 star:		(28)
1 star:		(20)

 

 

Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller are two of the funniest actors around these days, and they're even funnier when they're teamed up. Starsky and Hutch puts them in the roles of two drastically different cops chosen to work together. This approach may seem overdone, but Stiller and Wilson keep the screen fresh. They are both incredible actors and comedians; it would be hard to watch this film without laughing out loud.

Owen Wilson is Hutch, a laid back cop that likes to bend the rules. He never gets any work done and even drinks on the job. Starsky is the exact opposite. He is uptight and follows the rules to the book. You wouldn't guess, but he's also one hell of a driver. His car of choice is a red Grand Torino, and man can he make it fly. However, both Starsky and Hutch are outcastes at the police office, so they are put together. Naturally, the two characters hate each other when first paired up.

They soon get on the case of some drug dealers who are trying to get a new genetically engineered type of cocaine onto the streets. Vince Vaughn does an incredible job as the ringleader of this operation. He is serious and sinister in a way that just makes you laugh.

And then there is the infamous Huggy Bear. I've never seen the television series so I have no idea what he's supposed to be like, but Snoop Dogg is hilarious. Huggy Bear calls himself an urban informer. Basically he tells Hutch what the word on the street is so Hutch won't go and bust him. I think Snoop Dogg did a great job acting this part because he really didn't have to act. Huggy Bear wears lots of bling, talks slowly in a mellow voice, and knows a lot about drugs. Just like Snoop Dogg.

One of my favorite scenes pits Starsky against Dancing Rick in a disco dance off. It sounds cheesy, and it is. They pull off some really cool and original moves that'll have you splitting your sides with laughter. Another one of my favorite clips involves Starsky playing Russian Roulette while interrogating a suspect. In fact, just about every scene in the movie made me laugh. That's when you know you have a high quality comedy.

There are no bad characters in this film. Carmen Electra and Amy Smart play some sizzling love interests. Huggy Bear's crew is even worth a few chuckles. Will Ferrell has perhaps the funniest part in the film. The only downside to Starsky and Hutch is that it comes up a little short on the action side. This isn't a real problem because whatever the film lacks in action it makes up for in comedy twofold. Starsky and Hutch will have you rolling on the ground with laughter.

I was originally interested in the movie Starsky & Hutch because Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson starred in it together. I had seem them act together in both The Royal Tenenbaums and Zoolander and realised that they made one of the greatest comedic duos I had ever seen in movies. The way that they play off one another so effortlessly is what makes their movies so entertaining to watch. Starsky & Hutch was no exception. I have never seen an episode of the original show but I am actually considering doing so out of curiosity.

Ben Stiller plays David Starsky, a police officer who appears to be hopelessly uptight. However, we soon realise that he has his wild side and a bit of an unnatural maternal instinct for his car. Owen Wilson plays Ken 'Hutch' Hutchinson, an unprofessional police officer who is entirely nonchalant in pretty much any situation he and Starsky find themselves in. A few other lead characters are Snoop Dogg who plays Huggy Bear (who as far as I could tell was just a stoned drug dealer with an aversion to being touched) and Vince Vaughn who plays Reese Feldman, a disgusting little worm of a man (i. e. a drug dealer).

The movie opens on Feldman's yacht. He is unhappy about the loss of some of his cocaine and shoots the person responsible, Terrence Meyers (played very briefly by David Pressman). Then there's a scene of Starsky chasing a purse-snatcher, clearly the man has a bit of an ego and this is only proven when he opens fire in the midst of citizens. We are also introduced to Hutch who gets busted as he's leaving a small business that he just robbed with a couple other men. After that, we meet Captain Doby (played by Fred Williamson) and Starsky and Hutch are made partners.

At first Starsky's and Hutch's personalities clash and they have minor squabbles over trivial things such as when it's appropriate to actually come into work, whether or not to answer a radio call at noon, and what to do with a floater (nudge it into the current with a stick or actually do their job and solve crime?). Slowly, but surely, they begin to rub off on each other (although we don't get to see most of that unfortunately). They also begin to grow to like one another and learn how to work together despite their differences and subsequent bickering.

Since I have never seen an actual episode of the show that this spoof was based on, I can't really say how good of a job that the cast and crew did on making a complete mockery of the show, but I can say that I was sufficiently amused. My laughs were sparse at first but I found that halfway through the movie I was laughing uproariously. To say that this movie was entertaining would be a bit of an understatement. The script was great and the cast pulled off all the jokes smoothly, proof of their talent and sense of humour. A few other performances worth mentioning and paying attention to were Juliette Lewis's role as Kitty (Feldman's "girl-on-the-side") and Will Ferrell's role as Big Earl (a prisoner who is very much into dragons and... Hutch... or Dragon Hutch in other words).

Despite the fact that I did like this movie for the acting, comedy, and satire, I just wasn't very impressed with the overall result. I do enjoy comedies, especially anything with Ben Stiller and/or Owen Wilson, but I tend to lean toward dramas and I don't like movies about drugs or with very little plot. I understand that this was a spoof and that was the point, but I think that it could have been made a bit more intelligent in that area, by filling it slightly. The target audience, I'm sure, was probably more attracted to this film than someone like me who prefers foreign films rather than American movies. A good example of an intelligent satire would be the French film Bon Voyage.

I recommend this movie to anyone who is a fan Stiller/Wilson movies and light-hearted comedies. It's not very substantial, but it will keep you amused until the credits roll.

I never saw any of the old Starsky and Hutch television show and I'm not sure I ever want to, but the movie was very funny. After viewing the trailer I wasn't sure what to expect, but because of the long list of quality actors I gave it a chance and I'm glad that I did. Owen Wilson, Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, and Will Farrell were as funny as ever. This is a movie I can watch time after time and keep on laughing like it was the first time I've seen it. Don't miss this hilarious comedy.

I remember having a discussion with a friend, once, about people in high school and how there are three groups of them - (1) the ones you hate, (2) your friends, and then the third group: the people that you could live without, but you simply don't have the energy to actively dislike them...so you're nice to 'em. Watching Starsky and Hutch last night, I realized that those three groups totally apply to movies, also - filth like Welcome To Mooseport easily falls into that first category, masterful cinema like The Passion slides into the second one, and then...well...stuff like Starsky and Hutch goes right into that third category. Unlike director Todd Philips' earlier films, Road Trip and Old School, there's a sweet, harmless quality to Hutch that, even though I can't say I loved it, I enjoyed myself.

The '70's cop show isn't so much parodied in the movie but used as a springboard to pair Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson, who - with the right project (The Royal Tenenbaums) - can rock. It's kind of a Felix and Oscar cliche, but Stiller's Starsky is the fastidious, by-the-book cop and Wilson's Hutch just knows a little too much about cocaine. The movie predates the show, imagining how the two got together and then throwing them into various situations that sometimes score and other times fall completely flat. Snoop Dog's bit part as Huggy Bear just didn't do anything for me - usually, that '70's blaxploitation schtick is hilarious (i.e. Undercover Brother or anything on Chapelle's Show), but he fits in like an afterthought, the director trying to pull to another demographic. What does work, though, is a great scene where Starsky accidentally ingests cocaine and excitedly enters a disco contest. Or an undercover bit near the end of the film that you might have caught in the trailer (remember the horse in the garage?). I'll admit, I almost needed a catheter in certain scenes.

Then again, S&H can just be kind of stagnant at times, desperately attempting to be funny and not succeeding. Stretches of the movie were laughless and restlessness sets in...BUT - as much as I want to dislike this movie, I just can't. At the end, when the movie could have committed the carnal sin of overkill, it ends before it wears out its welcome. Nothing in it is really offensive, tasteless, or awful, and that's a rarity in buddy comedies these days. Stiller is looking more and more like a star in every movie he does, too (the vomit-worthy Along Came Polly notwithstanding) - most of the comedy in the movie is thanks to his awesome talent for playing off of that faux-macho persona that works so well for him. And then Will Ferrell - ahh, Will. Where do I start? The man is a riot, and a cameo that he has may as well be the single funniest scene of the whole film (he gets the privelige of alluding to the homoerotic speculation that was rampant during Starsky's run in the '70's).

When TV show rehashes are done correctly, they can be brilliant (look at the genius Brady Bunch parody), and when they're done wrong, they can be freaking awful (Leave it to Beaver), but Starsky and Hutch is really neither. It tows the line and makes it a worthwhile experience in the end, and an albeit hilarious one, at times. It's occasionally dumb, it has an interminably slow first act, and I can't say I'd watch it again. I can't say I didn't have fun the first time, either. GRADE: B-

I never watched the television series "Starsky & Hutch." It just had no real appeal to me as I was never a fan of cops shows where the cops drove great cars and were somehow really cool, good looking, and always got the gal. So when my wife suggested seeing this film, I balked a little at first. However, the presence of Owen Wilson, who always seems to entertain in whatever film he is in, convinced me to go. I don't know if this is faint praise or not, but the movie's not that all that bad.

First, if you like Stiller, you'll like this movie. I personally find him to be an acquired taste. He just doesn't seem that funny to me and it seems to me his success is always dependent on the surrounding case to make the film work. Teaming with Wilson again (they previously made "Zoolander" and "Meet the Parents," although in each Wilson had clearly secondary roles) is a good start toward making the film work.

The film trys hard to be over-the-top funny, sometimes playing on some of the iconic realities of the seventies. For example, a joke is made as to whether or not Stiller has a perm or if his hair is naturally curly. And Stiller ends up in a "disco dance off" against another guy with a truly horrendous perm. Vince Vaughn even sports a bad perm. Wilson somehow manages to miss being subjected to the perm problem.

However, I do give them credit. The film had more than a few funny moments, even though Wilson occassionally had a "what-am-I-doing-here" look about him. And there may have been a few inside jokes I missed because I never watched the series. The original series stars even make the obligatory cameo appearance.

You won't come away from this film with a deep desire to see it again, but it does manage to keep you entertained for 90 minutes or so. If you've got nothing better to do, you won't feel like you were just robbed of 90 minutes of your life.

This movie is so funny!!! This is my second copy because one of "thieverous" (yes, I know that's not a word) relatives stole the original. But I highly recommend this movie to anyone who hasn't seen it. The whole cast has their own style of comedy and when you bring them all together it's a lot of fun. Check it out.

The march of the Seventies continues with this latest attempt to update an otherwise dramatic period show as an outright comedy. Stiller plays Starsky, the man with the natural perm, while Owen Wilson is the sensitive Hutch. And the car is back (though it seems like they crunched about a dozen or so Gran Torino's in making this movie). Set in the fictional "Bay City" (though it still looks as much LA as any of those cop shows supposedly set in NYC), "Starsky & Hutch" has our heroes working together for the first time to take down a crime lord (Vince Vaughn) set to flood the city with a new form of cocaine utterly undetectable by police dogs. Will they be forced to rely on a local "businessman" named "Huggy Bear" (Snoop Dogg)? You bet! Will they earn the wrath of their Captain (Fred Williamson)? You got it! Will they be torn apart, yet rise above it and learn to work as a team? No problem. S&H is good clean fun - aside from a knife-throwing kid, a three-way kissing match between Hutch & 2 cheerleaders, a near case of "Russian Roulette" and a disco-dance challenge that goes bad. The jokes are fun, but it's a thin movie - sort of like a stretched version of the "Sabotage" video done nearly a decade ago, in which all the hazards and professional hurdles of being an LAPD detective were compressed into a few minutes. None of the jokes are that new - and most of them are sight gags (the ridiculous size of electronics, old cars and hair-dos, and how the cool people of the time look incredibly stupid and unattractive). Though it hails from the same TV era as "Charlie's Angels" it's not quite as energized as either of the two "Angels" movies, could have used some more car-chases, but it's still a load of fun.

It ranks a little under Zoolander in terms of my favorite Ben Stiller movies, but it's really pretty funny.

However, I couldn't help but get the feeling that about 20% of the jokes were lost on me though since it's been so long since I'd seen the series. I got the impression that I would have enjoyed it more had my memory been better.

If you're a 'Starsky & Hutch' fan, I'd actually go back and re-watch some of the episodes of the TV series (which is also out on DVD), and THEN watch the movie.

I was a lot younger when I watching the original Starsky and Hutch reruns with my father. But I remember my love for the car and the action.

This movie is nothing like the original. All the elements are there, though. This is not Starsky and Hutch--but it's a great comedy for Starsky and Hutch fans, Stiller fans, Snoop fans, or Owen Wilson fans. It's definitely one of my favorite comedies.

Then this is a must see! Particularly for anyone who grew up watching the series, owned the hot wheel's Torino, or bought 'Don't Give up on us Baby,' as a 45!

Stiller and Owen Wilson play Starsky and Hutch, two opposite-end types partnered together to police crime. In what is one of the most brilliant casting decisions ever, Their pimp-informant Huggy Bear is played by Snoop Dogg...which is really just such effective casting it's hard to come up with new adjectives to say how clever it is. Stiller and Wilson effectively master their characters quirks (Where in the WORLD did the costumer's ever find that hideous Starsky cardigan!?!?), and the story, while not the stuff of brain surgery, is light and entertaining. It's a well done 70's TV to screen in much the same way Charlies Angles 1 was: It manages to stay true to the show, while still satirizing it's material.

Most brilliant spot is Starsky and Hutch bring home their dates, and Hutch does his 'thang.' For those who remember the 70's and lived it...please don't drink during this segment, becaue you 1.) will choke on your soda or 2.) lose your soda as you do the classic spit-take before rolling in laughter.