Starsky & Hutch (2004)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Todd Phillips

Writers (WGA):

William Blinn (characters)
Stevie Long (story) ...

Release Date:

5 March 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Crime

Tagline:

They're the man.

Plot:

Two streetwise cops bust criminals in their red-and-white Ford Torino with the help of police snitch called Huggy Bear.

Plot Keywords:

Police | Cocaine | Undercover | Drug Dealer | 1970s

Awards:

3 wins & 8 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Wed. July 22

11:00 PM

AMC

Cast

Ben Stiller	...	David Starsky
Owen Wilson	...	Ken Hutchinson
Snoop Dogg	...	Huggy Bear
Fred Williamson	...	Captain Doby
Vince Vaughn	...	Reese Feldman
Juliette Lewis	...	Kitty
Jason Bateman	...	Kevin
Amy Smart	...	Holly
Carmen Electra	...	Staci
George Cheung	...	Chau (as George Kee Cheung)
Chris Penn	...	Manetti
Brande Roderick	...	Heather
Molly Sims	...	Mrs. Feldman
Matt Walsh	...	Eddie
G.T. Holme	...	Bartender

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for drug content, sexual situations, partial nudity, language and some violence.

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Korean

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Ireland:15 | South Korea:12 | Brazil:14 | Argentina:Atp | Australia:M | Canada:14A | Finland:K-11 | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIA | Netherlands:12 | Norway:11 | Peru:PT | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:M18 | Singapore:PG (cut) | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #40613) | Malaysia:18PL

Filming Locations:

Dockweiler Beach, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Dimension Films

Trivia:

The band that sings dirty songs at Reese's daughter's bat mitzvah is the same band that sang dirty songs at the wedding reception in director Todd Phillips's previous film, Old School (2003).

Goofs:

Plot holes: Kevin tells the coke dealers that the German Sheppard can "detect smells that even the most advanced technology in the world cannot." With that in mind, we see the fat coke dealer smoking a cigarette who is sitting closer to the dog than the man with the "old coke" (the one that the dog attacks) thus, the dog should have caught the man with the cigarette first.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Kitty: Don't stress. Just relax.
Reese Feldman: I don't understand man, I don't understand. You can lose keys, ya know, you can lose your wallet. How... how do you lose a plane?
Terrence Meyers: Reese, come on. What do you want me to do? You got three out of four planes in. That's still a lot of coke.
Reese Feldman: Now, see that? That's the kind of winning attitude that's gonna take this enterprise straight to the top.

Movie Connections:

Spoofs Easy Rider (1969)

Soundtrack:

I'm A Ramblin' Man

Great melding of traditional 1970s flicks and Stiller/Wilson

David Starsky (Ben Stiller) is a by-the-book cop who thinks nothing about destroying thousands of dollars of property to apprehend a mugger who has stolen only a few dollars. Ken Hutchinson (Owen Wilson) is the complete opposite--it seems the only reason he has become a cop is that it makes a life of crime much easier. Captain Doby (Fred Williamson) can't stand either of them, but hits upon the brilliant idea of pairing them. When they begin investigating a murder that has ties to a prominent millionaire, the best qualities of each just might start influencing the other.

Although I always wait to read others' reviews and comments until I've seen a film and written my own review (I do not want to be swayed or influenced in any way by other opinions), I can imagine that quite a few people would not like Starsky and Hutch. To really enjoy it, one would have to alter their expectations to what director Todd Phillips has chosen to deliver instead--a clever film that is both an absurdist spoof and a respectful, faithful homage at the same time. Creating that combination is a difficult feat, but Phillips was largely successful.

The combination means that Starsky and Hutch is not aiming to be over-the-top hilarious, and it's also not aiming to be overly consistent with the characters and tone of the original pilot film and series. Viewers expecting either are likely to be a bit disappointed. However, if you're a fan of gritty 1970s films as well as a fan of Stiller and Wilson's usual material, you should find much to love here.

Phillips has remarkably captured the look and feel of a typical 1970s film. The costumes, hairstyles, and overall production design are also perfect for a subtle spoof on the 1970s, and given the source material, even the plot has the slightly formulaic, slightly hokey, almost made-for-television feel that is appropriate for this genre. You know they're on the right track when Fred Williamson--star of such blaxploitation masterpieces as Hammer (1972), Black Caesar (1973) and Mean Johnny Barrows (1976)--has a prominent supporting role. The 1970s spoof/homage aspect is far more understated and reverential than you'd normal expect from a Stiller film, but easy to like and understand.

Other outstanding supporting roles are played by Vince Vaughn, Snoop Dogg, Will Ferrell and Juliette Lewis, all except Dogg slightly out of character, but just as enjoyable and funny as always, as they're all somewhat faithfully filling traditional 1970s roles. Dogg is the most in character, as he has long been deferential to that era, anyway.

The film hinges, of course, on Stiller and Wilson, and true to form, Stiller is still a somewhat oblivious buffoon with Wilson as a hipper, more streetwise buffoon. Grafting their comedy personae onto the Starsky and Hutch characters was more easily done and natural than anyone might have thought, and provides a highly amusing 100 minutes, even if it's a bit of an acquired taste and not likely to be understood quite as well by future generations.