MOVIE REVIEW - The Three Stooges

Wacky film makers, and brothers Bobby and Peter Farrelly have finally gotten the Three Stooges to the big screen this week. A long-time planned, trouble plagued movie where it has at last come all together.

The Three Stooges of course, have been around since Vaudeville days. The original black and white movie short troupe entertained movie and TV audiences for decades with their unmistakable brand of slap-stick humor. And now, they have been brought back to life in color and thrust into the 21st century. This is not a bio-pic. This is a fictitious story with Larry, Curly and Moe buffooning their way through life.

First up, should be noted that we live in correct world these days. And there is no way on earth to make The Stooges anywhere near correct. They still poke each other in the eyes, and hit each other with hammers, fall off buildings, and never really get hurt. That's just the way it is. When even classic Warner Brothers cartoons and such have been edited, and made more correct, somehow The Stooges get a pass. And I'm good with that. My goodness, do we not know that this is just silliness, amplified and personified? If you don't want your kids to see these things, then don't go. And don't cry to me or anyone else if you do and you are offended.

The story here really doesn't matter. What does matter here are the performances. Large kudos to our three stars. Sean Hayes as Larry, Will Sasso as Curly and Chris Diamantopoulos as Moe. This is not easy stuff. 90 minutes of imitating nearly 100 year old entertainment icons is not easy, especially if you want to be taken "seriously." They are incredibly dead on in look, sound and mannerisms. Honestly uncanny stuff, all three. It's clear that the actors and the film makers studied The Stooges at length.

This movie has the feel of a real Stooges flick. It is broken down into three "shorts" like the old Stooge shorts. There is a nice supporting cast, with Jane Lynch, Larry David, Jennifer Hudson and Sofía Vergara. There is plenty of head slapping, eye poking, and gourde bashing fun. And the reasons you laugh are many. First, you are a Stooge fan. Or you are laughing at the sheer expert imitations you are seeing. Or, you just have a silly bone that needs to be tickled from time to time with a guilty pleasure laugh. And that's what this is.

The Three Stooges is a bit fatiguing, and CERTAINLY it is not for everyone. It's one thing to watch a 10 minute short, and another to watch this for 90 minutes. But it's fast paced, no down time, and exits just in time, or maybe 10 minutes oo late. This is not a perfect comedy by any means, but many generations of movie goers at the showing today were laughing hysterically. And that's seldom a bad thing. Kids loved it. Again, if you're not willing to give The Stooges the pass they've always gotten, don't go. It's not correct, and Stooge fans wouldn't have it any other way.

Footnote: Extraordinary thing at the end. The Farrelly brothers themselves come on camera at the end of the movie and before the credits. They directly address the kids in the audience and explain that none of this is real and all done in fun. They go on to say that the hammers are rubber, and show them. And they show how the eye poke is actually done safely and a few other things too. And end by urging kids to play safe. Well, well done.

The Three Stooges. It is what it is. It's just silly fun. And three really wonderful mimics who have The Stooges down.