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Movie Review: Starsky and Hutch
Starsky and Hutch, directed by Todd Phillips, stars Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson, as cops David Starsky and Ken Hutchinson respectively. Throw in some Vince Vaughn, Juliette Lewis, a surprisingly formidable Snoop Dogg, Will Ferrell and, of course, some Jason Bateman for good measure, and you’ve got yourself a funny little stew, baby. I should be honest and say that the original television series that this movie is based on went off the air two years before I was born, so I’m in no position to say whether or not this movie is a spoof or an homage, or both, and am therefore probably not qualified at all to even be writing this review— but I’m going to do it anyway.
A brief synopsis: David Starsky, consummate play-by-the-books “good cop,” after going through twelve partners in four years, is paired up with Ken Hutchinson, a shifty cop whose motto is “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” (“ ‘em” being the criminals that he’s supposed to be incarcerating), by the very frustrated precinct captain(Fred Williamson). Starsky and Hutch are soon informed by Hutch’s super street-wise informant Huggy the Bear (Snoop Dogg) that there is a massive cocaine deal in the works. Smarmy drug-lord Reese Feldman (Vince Vaughn) and his equally seedy, but a hell of a lot more brainy, partner in crime Kevin (Mr. Bateman) have created a form of cocaine the scent of which is undetectable by canines. Once the audience is clued in to this plot, the rest of the movie is pretty much Starsky and Hutch trying to catch these guys—which is hard since the cocaine tastes and smells like sugar.
This plot might seem simplistic, but Stiller and Wilson are so likable you barely even notice. I also think the simplicity of the plot is a throwback to the sitcoms of the 70’s(once again, not having been born at the time, this is mere conjecture). Vince Vaughn is hysterically funny, as he is in everything he does, and he plays the part of scumbag drug
lord perfectly. After shooting somebody while sunbathing on a yacht in the opening sequence of the film, Vaughn’s character turns to his vacuous “girlfriend on the side”(Juliette Lewis) and asks her to make sure she gets all the sun block on his back, he “doesn’t want to tan weird.” Fans of “Old School”—which was also written and directed by Phillips--- will be happy to know that, in addition to Vaughn, the hilarious wedding singer from that film also makes an appearance in this movie as a Bat Mitzvah singer and there is a cameo from Will Ferrell himself— Ferrell’s scenes are quite possibly the best moments in this film, and make the film worth seeing if for nothing else that I’ve mentioned.
Of course there’s another very important reason to see “Starsky and Hutch” and, since you’re reading this on his fansite, you probably want me to get to the part about Jason Bateman. First things first—Jason is funny in this movie before ever opening his mouth because of the physical appearance that he adopts to play Kevin. The first time I saw this film, I literally got through the first half of the movie before recognizing Jason, and even then I only identified his voice. Jason’s character Kevin rocks gigantic, wire aviator style glasses circa 1974, smarmy looking matted down hair(with side burns, of course), and a killer porno-star moustache. He is in pretty much every scene that Vince Vaughn is in, being that he is essentially Vaughn’s
bitch(Jason has referred to the character in this way, and I have to agree) and he can be seen either donning spiffy polyester leisure suits or 1970’s pool attire consisting of a skin-tight green speedo and a protective sun block coating on his nose. If this hasn’t inspired you to see this film, I don’t what I have left in me. Jason’s character is basically the brains behind the cocaine operation, he’s very cautious and constantly nervous about getting caught. In the Reese Feldman-Kevin (no last name) partnership, Vince Vaughn gets pretty much all of the funny lines, Jason just pretty much lets him do his thing. I feel like Jason’s performance is really a testament to the kind of actor he is—first of all, some actors(especially good looking ones) might feel uncomfortable appearing onscreen looking so different; Jason obviously realizes what’s funny, and if funny means appearing onscreen with a porno moustache in a speedo, he’s willing to do what it takes. He’s also really gracious in letting Vaughn shine—he realizes what his character is there to do, he’s needs to be the serious side of the partnership. He does this well, and plays off of Vaughn perfectly. There are some really funny bits in the special features of the dvd in which Jason jokes that his character was supposed to be small, but the makers of the film expanded it quite a bit because they recognized his incredible talent—they just ended up wearing him out because they expected him to save the film. See the film and you’ll understand how funny this is, and we love Jason just because of this kind of self-deprecating humor.
