Movie Review: The Three Stooges

The famous trio is back. The Three Stooges have returned to the movie theaters after several decades of entertaining audiences with their classic short-film misadventures. In a lot of respects, the filmmakers of The Three Stooges honor the beloved trio. The three actors who portray Moe (Chris Diamantopoulos), Larry (Sean Hayes) and Curly (Will Sasso) are phenomenal. Each actor worked to mimic the original characters’ personalities and mannerisms perfectly. This results in a very nostalgic reintroduction to the almost-forgotten art of physical comedy.

Moe, Larry and Curly are famous for two comedic gimmicks — their inability to comprehend things at times and their tendency to “knock some sense” into one another. They use slaps, punches to the gut and the classic eye poke to tickle the audience’s funny bones. Cartoon-like sound effects with each hit add to The Three Stooges just like they did in the original short films.

In many ways, the film could’ve been a “classic Three Stooges film.” Yet the complicated plot takes away from the trio’s humor.

The plot to save an orphanage from foreclosing by searching for a large sum of money has been used in numerous films. And while it is classic, there could have been a better scenario used. That being said, the classic characters take full advantage of the plot. There are no plot holes in the story and despite the random use of babies in the humor, this was probably one of the cleanest comedies I’ve seen in a long time.

No one in the film smoked, drank alcohol or cursed which our modern day audience might find childish. Comedy should to be primarily about the humor — a fact the film never forgets. The Three Stooges even feels like a classic Three Stooges marathon by spiltting the film into three parts. It includes the classic introduction music and everything.

The Three Stooges weren’t loved for being the best, they were loved for always being true to themselves and always trying to do their best in whatever ridiculous scenario they found themselves in. In that sense, the film’s entire cast did an incredible job. The three main characters honor The Stooges for all of their infamous tricks and habits, which helped bring the classic Hollywood icons to life once again.

 

4 Stars