Neil Welch
Starsky and Hutch are two mismatched California cops who seek to take down a crime boss with a big drug deal forthcoming.Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson, accompanied by assorted members of the usual suspects, wear the clothing familiar to anyone who watched the iconic 1970s buddy cop TV series, drive around in the iconic Ford Torino with red and white paint job, call themselves Starsky and Hutch, and associate with people who call themselves Captain Dobie and Huggy Bear. And they generate a moderate quota of laughs as they do so.What they don't do is capture any element of what made the TV series successful. In particular, while Stiller and Wilson have chemistry, it's nothing like the chemistry between Paul Michael Glaser and David Soul, as is obvious when the originals put in a cameo on screen with their replacements.If you want to see an action comedy, you may well enjoy it. If you want to see a modern updating of Starsky and Hutch, steer clear - because this isn't it.
Steve Pulaski
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.
Steven
Having seen this many times already, I still wonder how else it can work when you have a popular TV show adapted into a movie and being directed by one of the best comedy directors out there today. Director Todd Phillips delivers a very funny adaptation of a TV show and makes it his own, but it wasn't all him.Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson are the best choices to play the title duo. Stiller channels Starsky's emotions really well. Wilson does an excellent job of being the laid back Hutch. Stiller & Wilson show once again that they can do a great job working together. What they do best in their roles in showing their great chemistry is how they play off of each other without missing a beat.Vince Vaughn is great with re-teaming up with Phillips as a bad guy who has shipments of cocaine coming in. He shows how relaxed he can be knowing that he is talking to cops.Snoop Dogg appeared in Phillips's Old School and steals the show as Huggy Bear. Huggy Bear is a rich informant who is really good friends with Hutch. As he says, "I lay it out for you to play it out." Rounding out the cast is Jason Bateman, Juliette Lewis, Carmen Electra, and Amy Smart. They all do fine jobs, but aren't given much to work with.Phillips made one of the TV adaptations into a movie in the history of cinema. He knows how to take a simple Starsky & Hutch story and make into something fun and easy to follow for people who have and have not watched the show.What I liked best was Phillips's storytelling ability of making a completely different story based off of very popular characters. Phillips does a great job of making a re-imagining of Starksy and Hutch.
