Just saw the new Three Stooges movie, and I have to say I enjoyed it overall. The audience mostly consisted of parents who brought their kids along; all of the kids laughed throughout the entire movie. And they didn't just laugh at the new gags placed in the film, they laughed at a lot of the older material as well.
Will Sasso, Sean Hayes, and Chris Dimantopoulos all did a great job. The Farrely Brothers have mentioned that their favorite Stooge was always Larry, and it really shows in this film. Most people would expect Curly did get the bulk of the screentime out of all of the Stooges, and while he does have his usual amount of fun material, Larry actually seemed to have more to do. "Not that there's anything wrong with that", as Jerry Seinfeld might say. Larry usually didn't get much to do in the old Curly shorts, as Curly ate up a lot of footage with his funny improvisation. However, Larry did generally have more to do in the post-Curly era.
Something else that is interesting is that this film actually has a few brief dramatic scenes in it. There have been some complaints from Stooges fans who aren't use to seeing their boys put 'heart' into their films, but personally I didn't mind it at all. In fact, I really wouldn't have minded if the Stooges had tried this a couple of times. They could certainly pull it off, as evident in films like SNOW WHITE AND THE THREE STOOGES.
What's also interesting is that
SPOILER ALERT
later on in the film, the Farrleys actually split Moe away from Curly and Larry. This was an interesting decision. To my knowledge, the only other time this was done was in the Stooges' 1945 feature film ROCKIN' IN THE ROCKIES (though in that film, Moe plays a dramatic character rather than his usual Stooge leader). While it was fun seeing Moe beat up on the cast of Jersey Shore (whom I never particularly liked), there did seem to be a void during this section. Curly and Larry are able to keep things going on their own, but it still doesn't feel quite as funny without Moe around. At one point, the Farrleys even seem to poke fun at the fact that Moe isn't with his fellow Stooges during these scenes. Larry hits on Curly (which seems slightly out of character), and Curly complains that Larry doesn't hit him as well as Moe does.
There were some bits I could have done without, such as the baby scene. And the film did seem a bit too innapropriate for kids at times. But overall, it's a fun film for all.
What's also nice is that at the end of the movie, the Farrleys show up to explain to the kids that all of the stunts in the film were done by professionals, and that the supposedly 'harmful' objects used by the Stooges were all safe props. This is a nice way of paying respect to the Stooges, who, in their later years while on personal apperance tours, always made sure the kids in the audience knew their violence was just an act.
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