First of all, I want to say thank you to all who read my movie reviews, editorials, and general angry rantings and my movie geek moments. This is my 100th posting here at templeofthehut.blogspot.com! There is something to be said for the irony of having my 100th post be on Friday the 13th and a review of The Three Stooges, but I'll leave that to you. Thank you all for visiting my site. It gives me the confidence I need to continue doing this. Just knowing I have readers means a lot to me.
Anyway, on with the show!
I liked it. I laughed a lot! This was such a nostalgic movie. I read many of the reviews people had for this movie and it came down to one thing: Do you like the Stooges? I know that is a no-brainer but a lot of people complain that this focused way too much on being like a movie you'd see in the 1940's. There wasn't anything new. The movie didn't try to update the schtick of the Three Stooges. To that I say, what's wrong with the Stooges? We're talking about a timeless comedy trio. And dare I say, Will Sasso, Sean Hayes, and Chris Diamantopoulos did perfect impressions of Curly Howard, Larry Fine, and Moe Howard respectively. Not to mention the writing and directing by Peter and Bobby Ferrelly gave it that perfect Stooges feel. This really is a movie for Stooges fans.
The plot of the movie was nothing special and really unobtrusive. It gave these three guys all the room in the world to give their performances. And they gave great performances. Every eye gouge, head smack, and hair rip had purpose. It wasn't slapstick for the sake of slapstick. The crude humor was toned down compared to most modern comedies (by the way I hate modern sexual comedies). The most positive thing I can say is if this movie was in black and white, it easily could've been performed by the original Stooges. It felt like a Stooge movie.
Honestly, I could've done without the Jersey Shore people. But it was fun watching Moe slap them around.
A little history of the Stooges:
For those not too familiar with The Three Stooges, they were a comedy trio in a time where a comedy trio was VERY uncommon. We're talking about a time when comedy duos like Laurel and Hardy starred in several movies back in the late 20's, Abbott and Costello were in movies like Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein and Bob Hope teamed up with Bing Crosby in all their "Road to..." movies. The Three Stooges came along in the 1940s when Jews weren't very accepted. That's why Moses Harry Horwitz, Louis Feinberg, and Jerome Horwitz changed their names to Moe, Larry, and Curly.
There were many Stooges over the years. But the most popular by far were Moe, Larry, and Curly. First, there was Moe, Larry, and Moe's real life older brother, Samuel Horwitz... aka Shemp Howard. He left the act and Curly became the 3rd Stooge. However, Curly began to have severe mental and physical health problems and Shemp came back. A few years after Curly died, Shemp had a heart attack and the Stooges needed a replacement. So in comes Joe Besser. And this marks the real decline of the Three Stooges. Joe didn't like to be hit and his character was very whiny. He played his character much more like a giant kid rather than a "Stooge". Joe didn't stay long. Moe and Larry wanted to do more live shows, but Joe's wife just had a heart attack and didn't want to leave. Then there was Joe DeRita (aka. Curly Joe) He did much to re-establish much of the Stooges reputation. A much more likeable character. He stayed with the team up until 1970 when Larry had a stroke and the team disbanded. Another was set to step in for Larry, Emil Sitka, but he never got that chance. Emil Sitka was a supporting character in many Three Stooges shorts so he seemed like a logical choice. But by 1971 even Moe was starting to show his age and his health was failing so everyone just decided it was time to call it quits.
So to recap: Here are each Stooge, their years with the team, and when/how they died.
Moe Howard - 1925 - 1970. Died 1975 lung cancer
Larry Fine - 1925 - 1970 Died 1975 stroke
Curly Howard 1934 - 1949 Died 1952 stroke/brain hemmorage
Shemp Howard 1925 - 1934, 1950 - 1955 Died 1955 stroke
Joe Besser 1956 - 1957 Died 1988 heart failure
Curly Joe 1959 - 1970 Died 1993 Pneumonia
"unofficial Stooge" Emil Sitka 1971 Died 1998 stroke
I loved the movie, I love the Three Stooges, and I hope you do too.
PS: Curly Howard was my favorite.
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