Sabrina Yates
Staff Writer
“The Three Stooges” movie fails to live up to its largely popular 1960’s television show counterpart. The slapstick comedy was a disappointment from beginning to end with its inability to hold the audience’s attention and create genuine laughs.
The film follows Moe, Curly and Larry, misfit orphans who attempt to earn enough money to save their orphanage from being closed. While trying to save the orphanage they experience wild antics, including becoming enthralled in an elaborate murder plot.
Sean Hayes(Larry), Will Sasso(Curly) and Chris Diamantopolous(Moe) adopt the mannerisms of their characters, but they were unable to turn their quirky characters into comedy. Along with this the gang is sheltered from society, which makes them naïve to the real world.
The only character that the audience could empathize with was Moe, but when he attempts to be funny with his mediocre jokes, he quickly fades in with the rest of the cast. The rest of the ensemble including Jennifer Hudson, Jane Lynch and Sofia Vergara gives forced performances that do not live up to their past work.
The lack of comedic skill and interesting plot echoes the mediocrity of film’s writing. There seems to be very few actual jokes in the movie and the ones that are actually funny are quickly interrupted by the traditional “Three Stooges” slapstick humor. Though the back and forth slapstick humor is inherent in a “Three Stooges” film, there still should have been some comedic humor that was properly integrated into the script.
The saving grace in the move is the sentimental moments that cause the audience to sympathize with the characters. When Moe gets an opportunity to be adopted, but turns it down to stay with his friends, the audience is moved by their relationship. The moment is ruined, however, when an ill placed prank and stale joke attempt to create laughs. Despite this one positive element, the film is still a flop.
The repetitive nature of the film is its main weakness. Though slapstick humor is customary for the “Three Stooges” franchise, the characters do the same stunts throughout the movie which fail to be funny.
The film also seems to drag on and on during its hour and a half run time. The sound effects, although amusing at first, only made the film seem prolonged. In addition, the movie broke apart the film in episodes with titles that only added to the lengthiness of the film.
Although “The Three Stooges” television series will live in the hearts of many, the movie fails to make a lasting impression and will soon be forgotten. People of this generation don’t find the slapstick humor of Curly, Moe and Larry entertaining like people of the 60’s did. The poor comedic timing and predictable slapstick humor fails to thrill audiences.
“The Three Stooges” is rated PG and is playing in theatres nationwide.
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