Wow, has it been almost 2 months since I last saw a film in the theaters? With a combination of shoddy films, and bad screening schedules, I just haven’t been able to make it to any movies lately, or haven’t been motivated enough to go. However, with Starsky & Hutch, I was interested enough because, well, Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson can be funny.
But unfortunately, while the movie had plenty of chuckle moments, there were very few full-blown laughts. Sure it takes place in the 70s, and that allows for plenty of disco jokes, but overall it just didn’t work so well. Stiller plays Starsky, the no-nonsense cop who is partnered with the laid-back street-wise Hutch (Wilson). Basic plot: Vince Vaughn is a drug lord who with his chemist (Jason Bateman) has come up with a variant strain of cocaine that is undetectable to dogs and shows up as artificial sweetner when tested. Snoop Dog as “Huggy Bear” is probably the best character in the film, which should tell you a lot about my feelings for this film.
I can’t tell if Teddy Shapiro used the “Starsky & Hutch” television show theme, but his score is a nice 70’s styled brass and guitar throwback, and the source songs work fine to say “1970s!!” but don’t really do much else. I’d say, if you wanna laugh a little, go check it out. Otherwise, wait for the real Ben Stiller comedy of 2004 – Dodgeball. June. Be there.