Three Stooges: The Movie
Rated PG for slapstick action violence, some rude and suggestive humor including language.
Starring Sean Hayes, Will Sasso, Chris Diamantopoulos, Jane Lynch, Sofía Vergara, Jennifer Hudson, Craig Bierko, Stephen Collins, Larry David,
Kirby Heyborne, Carly Craig, Kate Upton.
Written by Mike Cerrone, Bobby Farrelly and Peter Farrelly.
Directed by Bobby Farrelly and Peter Farrelly.
GRADE: C-
REVIEW:
The original Three Stooges is an act that you either love or hate. No matter how you feel about the Stooges, an updated version is coming out this week in the form of The Three Stooges:The Movie.
Larry, Curly and Moe are played by Sean Hayes, Will Sasso and Chris Diamantopoulos in a tale of the boys escapades while growing up and living in an orphanage, operated by a group of nuns. The nuns are played by Jane Lynch, Jennifer Hudson, Kate Upton and Larry David (in drag).
When the orphanage is forced to pay $830,000 in insurance claims (caused by the the Stooges), the trio set out to raise the cash to save their home. They encounter the evil temptress Lydia (Sofia Vergara) who is plotting to kill her husband Teddy (Utahn Kirby Heyborne in his major Hollywood debut), who turns out to be their long, lost former orphan buddy adopted by rich couple years before. The Stooges aren't successful at killing Teddy, but get pretty close to offing Lydia's lover Mac (Craig Bierko) through a series of injuries.
The Stooges continue to escape mishap after mishap until a final spat splits them up and Moe ends up a cast member on Jersey Shore. Lydia and Mac's plot is exposed as the Stooges reunite - but will they save the orphanage?
Again, The Three Stooges are not an acquired taste. If you love them, you love them - and if you don't, you don't. If you're one of the people who love the original act, then the Stooges reboot might make you laugh, since Hayes, Sasso and Diamantopoulos have their Larry, Curly and Moe impressions down pat (sorry if you were holding out for Shemp).
If you are not a fan, The Three Stooges: The Movie will annoy you even more than the original. The same silly cartoonish violence with accompanying sound effects is there, injected with modern potty humor (like a "pee battle" between the Stooges who point real un-diapered baby boys at each other like squirt guns in a hospital nursery and a pivitol fart gag). There's also a little more racy humor than the original, like Sofia Vergara's breasts that make a honking noise when stepped upon and Kate Upton's revealing nun swimsuit.
The Three Stooges: The Movie relies on a lot of Stooges nostalgia from the writer/director Farrelly Brothers. Such classic reverence might garner a few "nyuks" from Stooge fans, but if you don't get it, you "soitenly" won't like the new Stooges.
