Today I learned They’re Making a Stooges Movie…

I don’t know how to tell my father this; it will make him sad.  If he has to find out, however, it’s best the news comes from me.  He grew up watching the stooges and, just a few years ago, bought a collection of all their episodes on DVD.  Why shouldn’t he be sad?  To say The Three Stooges are legends is an understatement; they defined comedy for a generation.  And, on top of that, a lot of things are being remade these days and quality seems a mere afterthought to profit.

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But can this be good?  After all, not all remakes are bad, and since this is a cross between a remake and an adaptation, throwing it in with the other remakes isn’t entirely fair.  The word The New York Daily News uses is ‘update,’ which is probably best (you can read their article here). Hollywood has done a tremendous job with comic book movies (and don’t forget Lord of the Rings), but it has failed miserably with Dr. Seuss movies.  So, I guess it could be good, but it could also be quite bad.  Let’s look at some other things the movie has to offer; there are good and bad.

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Pros

1. The Farrelly Brothers started writing the script in 1999 which means they’ve put some time into this and aren’t just pumping it out.  The Farrelly Brothers also directed “Dumb and Dumber”—a comedy classic in its own right.
2. Larry David is in the movie.  I love this guy.  I mean without him there would have been no “Seinfeld,” and his show “Curb Your Enthusiasm” is hilarious as well.  This gives me some confidence.

Cons

1. The entire cast of “Jersey Shore” is in the film—enough said.
2. Not everything was kept the same.  Maybe it’s minor details, but in a review by the Daily Herald, it’s pointed out that the plot doesn’t have the same innocence as the original shorts.  Also, traditionally, the stooges never attacked someone else unless attacked first—again, not the case here.

The movie is getting mixed reviews and doesn’t come out until this Friday.  Since the movie will either be really good or leaving me demanding the refund price of my ticket, I think I’ll wait to see what the reviews are like after its release before I make a decision about whether or not to go see it.