Oh Brother, Where Art Thou, Chowderhead?

And now, to finish off the week, the first in another double feature I undertook yesterday, something I haven't done in ages. Something of note was that both films were comedies, something I very much needed after yet another awful day at work. I'll give my thoughts on the second comedy next time but today, let's look at the comedy caper featuring those chowderheads, The Three Stooges.

I haven't actually seen a lot of the Stooges work, or much to do with them, but their influence cannot be understated and most of us would have learned of the Stooges through the media they've influenced (has anyone ever done a running total of how many Stooges references show up in The Simpsons?)

I have, however, played the NES game based on the characters, and that's a Hell of a lot of fun. It tries something different and has neat sound effects, good stuff.

I knew that this film had a lot going against it, too. People blasting it for taking the Stooges into the modern world and such, and no doubt some were concerned at the acting choices. But were they right to judge so hastily or do we have on our hands a modern day re-imagining pulled off nicely?

The film itself is split into three segments, but all of them relate to the main plot, which involves Larry (Sean Hayes), Curly (Will Sasso) and Moe (Chris Diamantopoulos) leaving the orphanage they've been a part of all their lives to raise enough money to save it from closing. This leads to a murder attempt they... well, attempt, when Lydia (Sofia Vergara) offers them enough money to kill her husband.

I've long held a belief that if you're going to remake or re-imagine something, you should take either something that sucks and remove the bad things to make it better, or (in the case of the Stooges) take a property from a few decades ago and put a modern spin on it to showcase what would happen in said franchise if they continued to this day (that's not to say I won't watch remakes regardless, it all depends). The Three Stooges nails that concept. I won't comment on how well it worked for the boys back in the day, but considering all the technology and progress we've seen happen since then, it's not like they couldn't take advantage of it. However, what makes this film work is that even in the modern setting, the Stooges are still the Stooges. Unlike attempts from other classic characters to “be down with the kids” (Yo Yogi!, anyone?), the boys haven't been changed to be “hip, cool and/or funky”. They're not spouting “gangsta” slang or threatening to “bust a cap in someone's ass” (do people even say that anymore? God I'm so out of touch). So, while the world is as modern as can be, the essence of the Stooges is locked in a time capsule, which works out for the best. Though some of the interactions with modern day concepts (the iPhone bit seen in one of the trailers) are hilarious, like the Twitter remark (“I'll Tweet you” “Tweet us to dinner?”)
That being said, there is one downside to modern day mingling, which I'll get to later.

But what of the Stooges themselves, how do they fare? Wonderfully. Chris Diamantopoulos makes for a great Moe, a no-nonsense, short-tempered but golden-hearted fellow and Sean Hayes delivers a surprising turn as Larry, surprising because I've never been a big fan of his work. He easily impressed me here, as the laid-back and good natured goon. But the show stealer is easily Will Sasso as Curly, who gets so many of his mannerisms down pat, you'd swear he studied directly under the man himself. The classics are there, including the “nyuk-nyuk-nyuk!”, his barking like a dog when threatened, and my favourites “soitenly!” and the pronunciation of circumstance as “circumstance!” His energy leaps off the screen and he garners the most laughs.

On another note of acting, Sofia Vergara actually made for a convincing villain. A little too convincing... I haven't seen a whole lot of Modern Family, and I don't know much about her character, but I have to wonder why people are so enamored with her. Is it because of her looks? That's not doing her a service, guys.

Going back to my point on the essence of the Stooges, in much the same way the characters themselves haven't been altered to suit modern times, neither has their humor. It's still very physical, filled with pratfalls and slapstick, but not without taking concepts literally (one of the most hilarious things in the movie is a money making attempt involving a salmon farm. And that leads to the boys watering salmon like they were plants) or just with impeccably timed dialogue (before Lydia tells the boys what they need to do for the money, Curly says “Who do we have to moider?!”) Oh, and one of the most subtle gags involves Curly and Larry putting up missing posters for Moe, with the line “Answers to his name” on the bottom. Stuff like that is why I love comedy.

But there is one thing that the film must be penalized for, and it's not really a spoiler since it's in one of the trailers: the addition of the Jersey Shore cast. I know why, and I know that Moe spent a lot of the time delivering violence unto them, but it doesn't change the fact that this film acknowledges this existence. As far as I'm concerned, the only time they should be on screen is if someone's filming a meteor crushing every single one of their useless bodies into pulp. Otherwise, I don't want to be reminded of their self absorbed, stupid nature.

If you wanted a reality TV show experience for Moe to get involved in, why not The Amazing Race? I can see him try and get a clue from some local by going “Wise guy, eh?” before doing the classic eye poke and then run off with the clue. But maybe that's just me.

In spite of that, a feel good family fun film. Even when the violence gets to insane levels (like Curly taking a chainsaw to the head), there's no blood, gore or anything of that nature. The Stooges are essentially live action Rooney Tunes. And really, what else could they be? 4/5