Starsky & Hutch Review
by Robin Clifford (robin AT reelingreviews DOT com)March 8th, 2004
"Starsky and Hutch"
It has been nearly 30 years since two cops in their souped up, red 1974 Gran Torino tore up the city streets to hunt down and arrest the bad guys. Now, Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson reprise the roles as they go after a drug kingpin who has invented undetectable cocaine in "Starsky and Hutch."
I was never a fan of the 70's crime buster series starring Paul Michael Glaser and David Soul as the title characters. But, I am familiar enough with the "Starsky and Hutch" TV show and its characters to appreciate the updated version starring Stiller and Wilson. Besides the title players, we get, once again, the cherry red (with huge white racing stripes) Ford muscle car and, of course, Huggy Bear (played with aristocratic bearing by Snoop Dogg).
It's 70's Bay City and tight ass undercover cop Dave Starsky (Stiller) lives in the shadows of his deceased veteran police officer mom. She had the same partner for 22 years but Starsky has been through a dozen in his four years on the job and his boss, Captain Doby (Fred Williamson), is growing tired of his high maintenance detective.
Ken "Hutch" Hutchison (Wilson) is the diametric opposite of Starsky and is not beyond bending (read: breaking) the law for his own gain. Captain Doby decides that this loose cannon of a cop is the perfect replacement partner for stickler Starsky and the two are teamed together - like it or not. Of course, uptight Starsky, the poster child of a straight arrow cop, is taken aback by the cavalier, loosie goosie attitude of Hutch, especially when he meets his partner's shady colleague Huggy Bear. Huggy, after a guns drawn confrontation between his body guards and Starsky, explains that he is not a snitch for Hutch but an "urban informant."
Huggy Bear puts the dynamic duo onto a big drug deal being brokered by the nefarious Reese Feldman (Vince Vaughn), who is preparing to import a huge quantity of altered cocaine - undetectable to drug sniffing dogs. Feldman is putting the finishing touches on his deal with seven of the most powerful drug dealers in Bay City and stands to make astronomical sums. But, Starsky and Hutch, armed with Huggy's information, are on Reese's trail and they won't let go.
Director Todd Phillips takes the screenplay-by-committee (with the helmer, John O'Brien and Scot Armstrong credited with the script of the story by O'Brien and Stevie Long) and attempts to capitalize on the screen chemistry between his stars. Stiller and Owen were priceless together in the very amusing "Zoolander" and this compatibility continues in "Starsky and Hutch." But, the filmmakers rely too much on the previous movie's laugh factor and directly reprise such elements as a dance-off that is much like the runway walk-off and, again, the stars getting made up in disguises. (Although I had to chuckle when Stiller puts on his pushy persona and demand of his cheerleader girlfriends (Carmen Electra and Amy Smart), "Give us a kiss. Do it, do it, do it, do it, do it!")
The typical formulaic handling of the by the numbers screenplay is tempered, as I said, with the on-screen chemistry of the stars but there is also a small diamond in the rough performance by Will Ferrel. Big Earl runs a biker bar and is currently in the slammer. When Starsky and Hutch question him, he'll only answer if they put on a little show for him. Earl may only have brief screen time but the comedian/actor captures the funny moments every time. Vince Vaughn doesn't do anything we haven't seen before and Fred Williamson travels from the cliched pissed off captain to some old plain silliness. Juliet Lewis, as Reese's "daytime girlfriend" Kitty, gets nothing and does nothing. What has happened to this promising actress? Electra and Smart are here for the T&A factor only.
Techs, thankfully, are better than a TV show with attention being paid to the technologies of the 70's. In one amusing scene, Huggy is wired with a hidden microphone that makes you appreciate just how small electronic gear has become in a scant 30 years. That red 1974 Ford Gran Torino still stands the test time as a memorable TV icon.
"Starsky and Hutch" is a bit of amusing 70's nostalgia that is a good vehicle for its stars. Watch for the homage paid to David Soul and Paul Michael Glaser. I give it a B-.
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