Stuck on You (2003)


Stuck on You (2003)

Stuck on You (2003)

Stuck on You (2003)

Stuck on You (2003)

Stuck on You (2003)

Stuck on You (2003)

Stuck on You (2003)

Stuck on You (2003)


Stuck on You (2003)


Director: Peter Farrelly


Cast: Matt Damon as Bob Tenor, Greg Kinnear as Walt Tenor, Eva Mendes as April Mercedes, Wen Yann Shih as May Fong, Pat Crawford Brown as Mimmy, Ray 'Rocket' Valliere as Rocket, Tommy Songin as Tommy, Terence Bernie Hines as Moe Neary, Cher as Cher / Honey, Jackie Flynn as Howard, Seymour Cassel as Morty O'Reilly, Griffin Dunne as Himself, Bridget Tobin as Vineyard Cutie, Danny Murphy as Dicky, Malcolm G. Chace Jr. as Vineyard Buddie



*** out of ****

Well, it had to happen sooner or later. The Farrelly Brothers had to
mature (somewhat) at some point and make a film that didn't rely on sex
or gross-out jokes. That is apparently the case with Stuck On You, the
Farrellys latest and tamest, but it's also one of their sweetest and
funniest films to date.

Bob and Walt Tenor (Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear) are conjoined twins
who've spent their whole lives in Martha's Vineyard. Bob is the owner
of a burger restaurant and Walt is an actor who performs plays for the
town's audience, but he has bigger ambitions; he wants to be a
Hollywood actor, much to the chagrin of Bob, who suffers from a
distinct case of stagefright. But after some discussion and compromise,
they agree to move to L.A. and start a new life for themselves.

Upon arrival, Bob and Walt meet the friendly but ditzy April (Eva
Mendes), one of their neighbors in the apartment they've just moved
into. Bob even meets his internet pen-pal May (Wen Yann Shih), but
because he's never told her he has a conjoined twin, he has to "bring"
along Walt on their first date together. As for Walt's Hollywood
dreams, after some initial lack of success, he's chosen by Cher herself
to co-star with her on her new show, "Honey and the Beaze," in an
attempt by Cher to sabotage her own series. But the show is an
unexpected success thanks to Walt's burgeoning popularity, which puts a
crimp in his relationship with Bob.

Reviewing comedies has always been a bit difficult for me, which is why
I usually stick to the stuff that I find easier to write about
(action/adventure, horror, drama, anything but comedy), but given all
the knocks this film has taken (particularly the fact that barely
anybody saw it in theaters) I felt a slight sense of obligation to
mention that Stuck On You is the funniest and most touching comedy I've
seen in recent memory.

This is not to say that the film always had me choking with laughter
(though a scene involving a guy in front of his typewriter did get the
biggest laugh out of me all year), but rather that it consistently
delivered smiles, chuckles, and solid laughs without ever bogging down,
no easy feat for a movie that runs for just under two hours.

Aside from the lack of sexual humor, there's a major difference between
the style of comedy the Farrellys employ here than in some of their
prior films. Whereas many their previous works have often made fun of
the people that suffer from certain "disorders," Stuck On You presents
us with two friendly, easy-going guys who've grown accustomed to their
situation and choose not to see their conjoined liver as a handicap.
Rather, the film derives its humor from the way "outsiders" view their
condition.

In the film's two lead roles, Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear boast the
kind of comic chemistry that most actors can only dream of. Damon, in
particular, excels by taking the more "straight man" role, where he's
not actually aiming for any laughs but still gets them anyway, maybe
even more than the typically hilarious Kinnear. Watching these two guys
stuck together reminds me why I find them two of the most likable
actors in Hollywood, even when most of Kinnear's characters are
generally abrasive losers (but not in this case). It is, in fact, Damon
and Kinnear that make the film as wonderfully entertaining as it is.
Had not even half of the jokes worked as well as they did, their
performances would still warrant this movie a passable recommendation.

Stuck On You doesn't always juggle its various subplots perfectly;
while Wen Yann Shih does play well into the film, a lot of brief cameos
and a wide assortment of characters aren't meshed in as well. Worst of
all is Cher, who's neither funny nor particularly convincing as the
"bitch" she's made out to be. I have no idea if this says more about
her personality or her acting skills.

Most of the Farrellys comedies generally tend to dissipate in the last
half-hour or so, replacing its humor with more sincere attempts at
trying to make their irascible and/or "cad-like" protagonists learn a
lesson or two. The magic of Stuck On You is that its protagonists are
always the same throughout, making no genuine "it's a miracle!"
revelations about themselves at the last minute; after all, brotherly
love is still brotherly love.

When the last twenty minutes threaten to devolve into sentimental
clap-trap, the Farrellys punch in the necessary humor that defuses any
of the building sap (spoiler:I think my favorite scene in the whole
film is when Bob and Walt re-unite after parting their separate ways,
in a scene that's both hilarious and touching), making the film sweet
without getting too sweet. The Farrellys have made a lot of funny
movies, but this is the first of theirs I can recommend to just about
anyone.

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