Search This Blog

Saturday, April 28, 2012

THE THREE STOOGES

I had a little time to kill on a Thursday afternoon, so I decided to take in a movie.  I was looking for something lighthearted, something fun.  And, boy, I sure found it.  
The Three Stooges starts out at a Catholic orphanage run by nuns.  A package arrives on the door step, and guess what's in it.  Yep!! Three baby stooges, complete with the signature hair-dos of Moe, Larry, and Curly.  As you might imagine, they terrorize the nuns with their never-ending childish shenanigans.  The movie quickly moves the Stooges into adulthood, where the three adult actors take over and continue their funny business and high jinks.  Much to the chagrin of the nuns, they have never left the orphanage.  No one ever wanted to adopt them.  (Well, there WAS that one time, but. . . nah. . .  I won't spoil it for you).  The naughty-but-lovable trio became the caretakers of the institution, engaging in all sorts of tomfoolery all the while.
Then . . .  CRISIS!  The orphanage is going to be shuttered unless the diocese can come up with a very large amount of money to keep it going.  So the Stooges strike out on their own - for the first time in their lives - to raise the cash and be the heroes of the nuns and orphans.
The actors (Sean Hayes as Larry, Will Sasso as Curly, and Chris Diamantopoulos as Moe) were so true to the original characters that it was uncanny.  And they never wavered.  Their voices even sounded just like the originals.  It's chock full of eye-pokes, nose tweaks, hair pulls, etc., and the zany sound effects that accompany said antics.  The stooges always inadvertently find themselves in extraordinary situations that they always seem to weasel out of, all at the expense of the innocent folks who happen to be anywhere close to the guys.  It does take a semi-serious turn, where stooges question their relationship and wonder whether they would be better off if they split.  But you know how that ends.  Still, the jokes keep coming and so do the laughs.
I was pleasantly surprised.  I had no idea whether I would like this film, but I loved this it, and laughed a lot at the constant slapstick comedy.  There is a lengthy segment involving reality TV and the cast of Jersey Shore that was genius.  Although, I must say that if you are not a fan or at least familiar with the original Three Stooges TV show, you might not find it as funny as I did. 
If it's a no-brainer comedy you're looking for, look no further.  It doesn't get much better than this.  

No comments:

Post a Comment