Wonderful character development!

Simply Perfect

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

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.

Although I was just a kid in the Seventies, I remember Starsky and Hutch. The first fifteen minutes of the movie were outstanding in that the audience really feels that it is the 1970s. There is the romanticism and coolness of the 70s, but there are also real problems going on. Too many nostalgia movies just turn some era into a stereotype and fantasia. In the very beginning, Vince Vaughn plays an extremely psychopathic drug dealer who has no problem killing someone and then going back to getting a massage. The job of being a cop is seen as pretty rough. The 70s was an exciting time, but it was also a time of stressful change. The beginning of the movie is excellent in making one believe that it is actually 1975. There are some hilarious and funny moments in the movie. Stiller plays a really uptight person, tightly wound and a rules freak. I think Starsky was supposed to be college educated. Hutch is less developed, and more like Owen Wilson. Still, Wilson and Stiller are very funny together, as they usually are. The funniest scene was when Stiller accidentally shoots off the tail of an iguana, owned by a local hood played by Snoop Dog. It turns out to not lead to a shootout, because they all determine that iguanas grow their tails back. I also like it when the cops meet at the home of the two drug dealers. Rather than being unsophisticated, Bateman and Vaughn are excellent as portraying themselves as drug dealers masquerading as sophisticated members of San Francisco's gentry. They even talk about the charities they are involved in. I also like how Hutch and Starsky are seen as clowns, treated with disrespect and contempt by their fellow officers. Christopher Penn was excellent as a cop who thinks that Starsky is someone who is an oddball to the unit. This rings "real life", where people often do jobs where there is not much visible reward. The police chief, played by 70s actor Fred Williamson, is very good as someone who is so tired of the duo's antics, but somehow keeps them on because he sees potential in them. There are other things that seem completely overboard and unnecessary. The role by Will Farrell just seems weird and obtuse. The cheerleader openly stripping naked is ridiculous. America is not Norway. Believe me, even in the 70s, America was Puritan. The disco scene seemed a bit ridiculous and overboard. It just seemed to be a sidetrack. So did the scene where they dress up like Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda. That was 1969, not 1975. It was a distraction. In the end it, it was the Grand Prix that changed my vote from a 5 to a 6. Cars were a big deal back then, and the Grand Prix was amazing. I never really got into the original TV show - Starsky and Hutch. I liked that the movie mostly succeeded in showing the 70s as they were, but went too overboard with distractions, as well.

Having not seen the original series I can't judge this movie as a remake, however it does allow me to rate the movie on its own merits. Personally I thought it was absolutely brilliant!There are good performances from Stiller and Wilson (although they do seem to play very similar characters to those we have seen them play in other movies) and Snoop Dog absolutely steals the show. Whilst it isn't smashing cinematic boundaries and revolutionising movie making, it's a funny, enjoyable movie with some scenes that had me, and my whole family, in tears with laughter. A particular example is the scene in which Starsky inadvertently pours Cocaine into his Coffee assuming it to be sugar leading to 10 minutes of side splitting comedy.Whilst fans of the old TV series may not like it for being inauthentic (although my dad, who seemed to model his fashion sense in the 70s on the show, loved the movie), on it's own this movie stands very well, and a cut above much of the mindless, unfunny drivel the seems to be calling itself comedy these days.

Starsky and Hutch is a vastly underrated movie. I appreciate the talents of Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson when no one else does. I really enjoyed Stiller in Dodgeball and Anchorman both of which also came out in 2004. Owen Wilson has always been one of my favorite comedians.This is a classic ripoff of the 70's TV show. This is another buddy cop comedy and it's a good one. It's about the pairing of two crazy cops who decide to investigate a big drug sting that's due to happen.Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller have great chemistry together. I also though Snoop Dogg is great as Huggy despite my original misgivings. I have to say that Will Ferrell cracked me up the most though.Overall, this is a great movie. I had a good time watching it. I guess most people don't like it cause they compare the TV show and the movie. I rate this film 8/10.