The Three Stooges

I'm pushing 60. I've been a fan of the original Three Stooges for almost my whole life. Got all the DVDs. Read most of the books. In all that time, I have seen many imitators of all 6 Stooge-members, including Moe, Larry, Curly, Shemp, Joe Besser and Curly Joe deRita. In these guys (Hayes, Sasso & Diamondapoulos), I've never seen anyone come nearly as close to the original Larry Curly & Moe. And that includes the three actors who portrayed the boys in the 2000 TV-movie bio-pic. But it isn't just that. It's the Writing and Directing of the Farrelly brothers here that really does the trick. The funniest things the original comedy trio did were the rapid-fire slapping, poking and punching, set to hilariously beautiful sound-effects. That is all presented here, perhaps even more often than in the original short films of the '30s & '40s. The time is just right for all this. This is another nostalgia trip for baby-boomers like me and so many others today. Presented in the form of one continuous 90-minute story divided into three 30-minute "short films," even the pace is perfect. I was a little leary of the brothers' apparent "need" to include Jersey Shore cast-members into the film, but that decision turned out okay. Loved this hilarious, fast-paced comedy film. ***1/2 out of ****

You know, when I read that Peter and Bobby Farrelly were going to make a movie starring actors impersonating The Three Stooges, I was a little skeptical especially when the announced stars were people like Sean Penn and Benicio Del Toro. But they calmed down and instead cast actors like Sean Hayes, Will Sasso, and Chris Diamantopoulos who did fine in acting exactly like Larry, Curly, and Moe, respectively, when portraying the legendary comics. And while there's somewhat of a sentimental plot involving some orphan kids, it never goes in treacly territory as there's always some wonderfully staged slapstick scenes that undercuts that. Oh, and there's also some hilarious scenes involving the cast of "Jersey Shore". In summary, this version of The Three Stooges is highly recommended for anyone not minding seeing this legendary comedy team played by other actors or anyone who haven't even heard of them yet and wants to see more of them.

I've never really sat down and watched The Three Stooges but I'm familiar with their work through their impact on popular culture. Before watching this movie, I decided to give the original shorts a try and I absolutely loved them. The humour is simple but brilliant. So it made me slightly cautious before watching this, but it's absolutely fantastic. The Three Stooges set out to save their orphanage by raising over $800,000. They find themselves mixed up in an assassination plot and Moe ends up on Jersey Shore. The actors and the Farrelly Brothers have completely recreated the magic of the originals. The three stars have their parts down perfectly, each of them doing bang-on impersonations but not overdoing the mannerisms and voices. The Farrelly Brothers keep the comedy innocent and even manage to bring originality to having babies pee on people. The slapstick is fast and well choreographed with a few puns thrown in for good luck. This isn't trying to convert any new fans, and some old fans may be put off, but they should know this is a perfect continuation of these characters. The Jersey Shore scenes are very well done, using the cast as simply punching bags. If you never liked this kind of humour, I doubt you'll like this, but I adored it for its simplicity and innocence.

If you still watch the old Three Stooges Shorts from way back when and appreciate their humor, there's no reason you won't love this movie. The setting is contemporary, with iphone's and the jersey shore and what not, but this setting is only used to further punctuate the timeless humor of the stooges. All three actors who portray the stooges do a flawless job and make you actually forget that they are not the originals halfway through the movie. It's as if Larry, Curly and Moe have been pulled out of time and placed into today's society getting into the same type of trouble and running the same type of gags they always would. There really isn't a better way the Three Stooges could have been portrayed in this day and age. The Farrelly brothers do an incredible job doing the character of the Stooges justice, weaving a fantastic Stooge-esque plot and transporting these lovable nitwits into the present day. Heck the Farrelly brothers even made sure to include the classic title slides seen before every Stooges short. It's for this reason I give this movie an extremely high rating, not because it's a profound comedy, but because it had one goal: recreate the enduring humor of the Three Stooges, and with that goal in mind this movie overwhelmingly succeeds.

This wonderful feature-length adaptation of the stupidly funny Stooges includes colorful visuals, hilarious humor, and is quite kid-friendly! In this film, Moe, Larry, and Curly grew up in an Christian orphanage, but then the orphanage has to be demolished. They wouldn't tolerate it, so they go off on a journey to make some money to save their home. Great movie! Full of good laughs, endearing joy, and a heart of innocent stupidity from the Stooges! I also think that the actors who played the comedic trio did a really authentic job of portraying them. I can't wait until it comes out on DVD! It'll be awesome to watch at home! I give this an 8 out of 10 score! Again, great movie!