This movie was another great opportunity for Stiller and Wilson to really let loose and show their stuff, but yet again I found myself a bit disappointed as I left the theater. They are getting closer, but these two are capable of so much more together. Sure the movie gave me a lot of chuckles and a laugh here and there, but I don’t want chuckles! This is Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson! On paper these guys are the perfect match with Stiller playing the by-the-book, over-serious cop (Starsky) and Wilson playing the carefree, rebel cop (Hutchinson). But I found myself laughing more at the film’s props and outfits and less at its stars.

Perhaps it is their style and I am just not getting it, but I feel that these two are pulling their punches. Starsky & Hutch had all the right ingredients and little else. It was as if they were thinking “Oh man, look at this poster! Check out these outfits! And the car, wow! People are going to be cracking up!” Sure I chuckled every time I saw Stiller in a pair of painted on jeans, a 70’s prop, and a perm, but aside from this “obvious” humor there really wasn’t much else to laugh at. I can get this humor from looking at a goofy photograph or watching the trailer for the movie. And, yes, the car was cool, but again, it’s another prop. Starsky & Hutch is amusing; it is not funny.

I saw this film at Cinemark’s Tinseltown 17 Theater on Peach Street in Erie, PA.

(04-0309)