By Matthew Braine
The duo of Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson never fail to amuse audiences. Together they have worked on seven movies, including their latest project Starsky & Hutch, which opened this past weekend. The two have appeared in hits such as Meet the Parents, Zoolander and The Royal Tenenbaums, with Stiller usually playing the straight man, allowing Wilson to play off Stiller in an always hilarious manner. The reincarnation of the popular 1970s cop show is no different, as the film rarely goes a minute without a joke.
Starsky & Hutch is basically what you’d expect to see in a Stiller/Wilson movie; jokes and humorous situations come before the plot. However, this is not a bad thing, as both stars achieve their goal of amusing the audience very well by using drugs, sex and yes, even a little Wilson rock ‘n’ roll. But, that doesn’t mean that the atmosphere of 70s metropolis Bay City isn’t captured to perfection.
From the opening credits, the film seems like the beginning of an actual police detective show, as director Todd Phillips uses camera pauses and rooftop jumping to introduce the two main characters. Throughout the film, we are treated and reminded of all the 70s clichés including the outlandish fur coats usually worn by Huggy Bear, played by the ever talented Snoop Dogg, bad stakeout positions and the ridiculously bulky microphones used in a sting operation. All of these clichés provide the stars the ability to mock and make fun of the things we’d loveto forget.
The film begins with David Starsky and Ken Hutchinson being introduced as reluctant partners. The work horse Starsky and the crooked Hutch butt heads from the beginning but after being assigned the case of a lifetime, tracking down a notorious drug dealer, they start to bond. Vince Vaughn plays Reece Feldman, a very wealthy dealer who has discovered a new brand of untraceable cocaine, with an ex-con foundation as a cover. Vaughn plays the role brilliantly, often resembling his character in Old School. This is ever prevalent when we see Feldman singing along to a song at his daughter’s Bat Mitzvah. The homage here is that the singer is the same vulgar yet hilarious singer that is featured in the fraternity classic. And yes, Feldman is seen rocking out in this scene just as he did at the wedding in Old School. Starsky and Hutch spend most of the film gathering clues from Feldman’s accomplices including their ex girlfriends, and a dragon designer named Big Earl, played by the incomparable Will Ferrell.
During an interview, Earl is in jail, but is willing to give up information if and only if Hutch shows a little skin. This is one of the funniest scenes in the movie, as Earl forces Hutch and Starsky to play naughty games while they impersonate dragons. On top of Big Earl, the duo is faced with the daunting task of interviewing two cheerleaders who know of Feldman’s accomplices. Amy Smart and Carmen Elektra play Holly and Staci. Together, these two foxes agree to go out with Starsky and Hutch in order to gather some information. This scene is also hilarious, as Starsky accidentally uses the untraceable cocaine as his sugar for his coffee. What follows is a disco dance off that rivals Stifler’s performance in American Wedding.
Overall, throughout the film, the jokes prove to be more entertaining than the actual plot, like said earlier. However, there are very few weak moments during the film and viewers will most likely be entertained thoroughly. Stiller and Wilson can chalk up another success as Starsky & Hutch laughs its way through 101 minutes of crime busts and detective bloopers.
Final Grade: A-