Starsky & Hutch (2004)

This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

Purely Joyful Movie!

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Brilliant and touching

Starsky (Ben Stiller) is an uptight detective who gets tied up with every small infractions. Hutch (Owen Wilson) is a wildcard. The captain decides to put these two outsiders together. They team up to investigate a murder that leads to drug kingpin Reese Feldman (Vince Vaughn) who has a new undetectable coke.They are recycling all the iconic 70s shows into a weird funny parody. Every once in awhile, they put in the silly Will Ferrell character. In the center of it all, it's all about the great chemistry between Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson. They have a easy comradery.It has one foot in comedy and the other in a police drama. Vince Vaughn has enough menace to be the bad guy, but certainly light-hearted enough to be in a comedy. Everybody has a nice easy chemistry.

If you're a fan of the original series and not interested in seeing it parodied, I suggest giving this movie a miss.There are various "golden oldie" songs throughout the movie which were enjoyable to listen to and sing along to but some of the footage that accompanied these songs seemed overtly and unnecessarily sexual.The characters of Starsky and Hitch seemed considerably less concerned with fair play and honesty than the TV series' counterparts.The highlight of the movie was probably the cameos of David Soul and Paul Michael Glaser in the last few minutes of the movie. Amusingly, Soul's character was dressed identically to Wilson's character, as were Stiller and Glaser's characters, Glaser and Stiller in Starsky's leather jacket and Soul and Wilson in Hutch's standard style of outfit.There were a few clever gags (literally a few, three, I think) but some of it was rather obnoxious and parents should be warned, like many remakes of old/older stories/series, a lot of this is NOT suitable for children or young teens. The TV series is suitable for a fairly young audience but I'd probably prefer not to show the movie to under 15s.Starsky's character changed throughout the movie with no really clear reason why. I found this bizarre.I've been there, watched it, and am unlikely to ever bother with it again.

Well, let's just say straight away that "Starsky and Hutch" was never going to be some sort of amazing film which would go into the History books. It was never meant to be. This film is basically exactly what you'd expect. It is a light hearted tribute to the original 1970s TV series, including cameo performances by the original stars Soul and Glaser. That is all it was ever meant to be. Stiller and Wilson in their title roles are their usual funny selves, although it does feel at times that if it wasn't for their chemistry, this film would be nothing. Let's not beat around the bush, whilst it IS funny, the reason my friend was disappointed was because it could have been a hell of a lot funnier. It's hard to point out why exactly, as there are one or two gem's, but for a comedy, people want to be laughing in the isles. Other than Stiller and Wilson, the cast provides acceptable backup, with the exception of Will Farrell who I feel is wasted. Relatively recent film newcomer Snoop Dogg is the one big surprise out of the acceptable cast. I'd gone into this film with the one expectation of Snoop being awful, so imagine my surprise when he was actually quite good as Huggy Bear, former 1970s nothing but 2004 Crime Boss.Other than commentating on the actors and the inconsistent humour, there isn't really that much to say. This film is exactly as someone should expect. It's a light hearted buddy-buddy film with the occasional joke.I give it a 3.

Starsky & Hutch is marginally successful for the sole reasons that it doesn't take itself too seriously and makes great use out of its two leads, who go on to have inseparable chemistry in the film. It is yet another entry in the "throwback genre" area of film, which would certainly go on to see darker days apart from this picture, what with Bewitched and The Dukes of Hazzard just a year ahead of this one. As comedies go, this is simple, effective entertainment, boasting a very relaxed charm and charisma.The formula that made both Brady Bunch films work so well has gone on to be adopted by the Starsky & Hutch film adaptation to do the same job; the creative blend of self-parody and competence. Ben Stiller plays David Starsky, an over-the-top detective, who is paired up with the lax, go-with-the-flow-guy Ken Hutchinson, played by Owen Wilson, to attempt to find and arrest Reese Feldman (Vince Vaughn), a drug kingpin who is about to release a type of cocaine on the market that has the look, feel, and scent of plain sugar, to fool drug-sniffing dogs and police officers. They hop into Starsky's bright red, always reliable Ford Gran Torino and begin their hot pursuit on their first drug bust.This is unbelievably standard formula, but it's taken in a way that isn't so much fresh as it is efficiently done. What could've spawned a dead, lazy action film instead worked into a film that is collectively paying homage to the seventies program as well as throwing many corny jokes in the picture for good measure. Starsky and Hutch are only assisted by Huggy Bear (Snoop Dogg), their local snitch that offers the details on all the recent busts and complications that go down in their hood.Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson are ideal for the roles of Starsky and Hutch, as they exercise completely within their boundaries, never overstepping their roles and never seemingly playing them in a smarmy, artificial nature. Working solo, they men are fun to watch, but pairing them together is a move that was right from the start. Their chemistry carries the entire film into a whole new realm of comedy, and certain scenes (take for example the superbly crafted Easy Rider parody) work well because of their capable screen presence and ability to pull off certain levels of nuanced humor.It's safe to say too that the film works because it's not dumbed-down to all new lows, like The Dukes of Hazzard project was. It was ham-fisted into incompetence because of how simplified the charm of the original program was to dull car chases and stiff characters. They cast was there, the setting too, but the heart was missing and the treatment was lacking. Here, we can at least say that the cast is unanimously capable, and the writers John O'Brien, Todd Phillips, and Scot Armstrong, and director Todd Phillips, who made this film right in the middle of his career as a raunchy comedian with works like Old School and Road Trip under his belt and The Hangover and Project X to come, have a great level of respect for the original source material so much so that they can parody it while admit that it was still a very fun program to watch.Starring: Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Snoop Dogg, Vince Vaughn, Jason Bateman, Amy Smart, Carmen Electra, Fred Williamson, Juliette Lewis, Molly Sims, and Will Ferrell. Directed by: Todd Phillips.