Stuck on You Review
by Bob Bloom (bobbloom AT iquest DOT net)December 12th, 2003
STUCK ON YOU (2003) 3 stars out of 4. Starring Matt Damon, Greg Kinnear, Eve Mendes, Wen Yanh Shih, Pat Crawford Brown, Ray “Rocket” Valliere, Cher, Seymour Cassel, Terence Bernie Hines, Griffin Dunne and Michael Callen. Story by Charles B. Wessler & Bennett Yellin & Peter Farrelly & Bobby Farrelly. Directed by Bobby Farrelly & Peter Farrelly. Rated PG-13. Running time: Approx. 120 mins.
Paint yourself a mental picture using these words: Farrelly brothers, conjoined twins.
What kind of politically incorrect, tasteless images have you conjured up?
Well, you can erase them all because with Stuck on You, the brothers have created a funny movie with heart and, dare we admit it, class.
And, yes, the cretins who expect gross-out and vulgar jokes about twins and the bathroom and sex, will be disappointed. Get over it.
Stuck on You succeeds simply because Bobby and Peter Farrelly, who also wrote the screenplay, tempered their indulgences to give us a story of fraternal love laced with warmth, insight and humor.
Based on a story by the Farrellys as well as Charles B. Wessler and Bennett Yellin, Stuck on You focuses on Bob and Walt Tenor. Bob (Matt Damon) is the shy one, enjoying his life as a short-order cook and owner of Quickee Burger on Martha's Vineyard. Walt (Greg Kinnear) is the extrovert; active in community theater where his one-man show, Tru, about Truman Capote, wows the locals.
The plot moves forward when Walt decides he wants to go to Hollywood and begin an acting career. Bob, of course, reluctantly tags along.
Through a series of bizarre circumstances Walt ends up co-starring in a TV show with Cher, which becomes an unexpected hit and makes the twins re-evaluate their connections.
The movie works because the Farrellys refuse to treat Bob and Walt as oddities. Neither they nor they conjoined status are made the butts of any cruel jokes.
That is not to say the Farrellys don't mine the situations for some comic nuggets, but they don't come at the expense of the characters or their condition, but rather are dictated by the storyline.
The physical performances of Damon and Kinnear are marvelous. Consider that they have to act as if being connected for 32 years was the most natural thing in the world. Plus, they ice skate, jog, pitch in a baseball game, box and play football. Yet they stay in step and in character, with the level-headed Bob usually in the background, while the more exuberant Walt grabs the spotlight.
The Farrellys don't totally detour around the low road; a joke with Cher and her young boyfriend elicits howls.
Other magical moments involve the brothers showing their talents for impressions, and being involved in a barroom brawl, started not because of their situation, but to satisfy the honor of the Boston Red Sox. Also, an early cameo by Meryl Streep pays big dividends later.
The film does have some minor flaws. For example, the brothers are from Massachusetts, yet lack that distinctive accent. And they seem too smart to hire such an out-of-touch agent as Morty O'Reilly (a lively performance by Seymour Cassel) to represent their interests.
Some fans, looking back fondly at Dumb and Dumber or There's Something About Mary, may believe the Farrellys have sold out, gone soft or mainstream with Stuck on You. If nothing else, this wonderful excursion into a subject rarely touched by films shows the two do have a sensitive side.
Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, IN. He can be reached by e-mail at [email protected] or at [email protected]. Other reviews by Bloom can be found at www.jconline.com by clicking on movies.
Bloom's reviews also appear on the Web at the Rottentomatoes Web site, www.rottentomatoes.com and at the Internet Movie Database:
http://www.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Bob+Bloom
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