I must admit, despite being a pretty big fan of The Three Stooges from my childhood, fondly remembering laughing heartily with my dad while watching the original shorts, like many I was pretty nervous and skeptical about the new movie. THE THREE STOOGES is brought to us by The Farrelly Brothers (Peter and Bobby Farrelly), the fellas responsible for THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY and DUMB AND DUMBER… though their more recent movie efforts have left a little to be desired. I still remember barely laughing during THE HEARTBREAK KID. But one thing became pretty apparent from the trailers for the new STOOGES film, and that was the three actors playing Moe, Larry and Curly were pretty dead on with their imitations. I guess the question now is will anyone want to see the classic comedy trio re-imagined on the big screen in present day.

The movie consists of three “shorts”, very much like the classic short films the original Stooges starred in. These three vignettes connect with one overall storyline, as we follow the boys on their wacky misadventures. As the story opens we see an orphanage filled with lovable kids, who burst into song only to be interrupted by an unpleasant nun, Sister Mary-Mengele (CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM’s Larry David in nun drag). A car pulls up and throws a bag on the porch – a bag filled with three babies (Moe, Larry and Curly) who promptly eye poke Sister Mary-Mengele sending her to a painful fall over a ledge. This will be the first of many unpleasant encounters for the elder nun as the boys grow up. Cut to 10 years later, and we see the young Stooges are still at the orphanage, hoping for adoption, and driving the nuns crazy on a daily basis. Moe (played at age 10 brilliantly by Skyler Gisondo) almost catches a break with one kindly couple, but his desire to bring his two buddies along screws it up, and another boy named Teddy is chosen to go live a new life. Cut to 25 years later, the boys (Chris Diamantopoulos as Moe, Sean Hayes as Larry, and Will Sasso as Curly) are now grown up but still causing trouble around the orphanage. When a visiting monsignor (Brian Doyle Murray) informs the nuns they’ll be shut down unless they can raise over $800,000, the Stooges decide they’ll hit the road to save the day. When a conniving wife (Sofía Vergara) and her sleazy boyfriend on the side (Craig Bierko) are looking for a way to murder her husband (Kirby Heyborne), they see the Stooges as obvious patsy material, and formulate a plan to have them do the dirty work. But the outside world is about to discover that these guys are not the ones you come to looking for help.

The first act of the film runs dangerously close to showing us too much of the Stooges as young boys. It’s somewhat obvious that The Farrelly Brothers were going for a “kid” movie vibe on THE THREE STOOGES, and it almost brings the whole thing down as a result. Thankfully when the grown up versions kick in, the laughs come pretty fast and furious. I’m going to go ahead and say that if you aren’t a fan of the original Stooges, this film probably isn’t going to do much for you. But if you are hip to the classic comedy antics, chances are you’ll find more than a few things to appreciate here. For starters, Chris Diamantopoulos, Sean Hayes and Will Sasso are pretty spot on with their impressions of the originals. Diamantopoulos has Moe’s voice and mannerisms down so perfectly, it’s easy to forgive the fact he looks very little like the man he’s imitating. Moe Howard was a short and stocky man, and Chris is neither, but somehow it works. Sean Hayes clearly studied all the nuances of Larry Fine, contorting his face while delivering lines, and putting the right emphasis on select words and emotive sounds, proving he’s capable of so much more than the “Jack” persona from WILL & GRACE. Then there’s Will Sasso, who channels Curly with surprisingly accurate perfection. Sasso is already a seasoned comedic performer from his MAD TV days, but here he shows a level of emulation that is beyond a simple comedian’s mockery of a famous figure. In all honestly I can’t think of a better person to play Curly anyway, as Sasso already has the right look and body language to pull it off… even if he is a lot taller than the original.

The supporting actors seem to be having fun with their roles too, and I’m guessing certain people (like Larry David) are likely Stooge fans themselves, which is probably what drew them to the project. David has a lot of fun playing the bossy elder nun, hamming it up in every available moment. It’s almost too silly seeing him in nun drag, but again, like a lot of things in the film, it just works. Jane Lynch plays another one of the orphanage’s leading nuns, and is pretty normalized in her performance… no lewd or uncomfortable humor from her this time, rather playing the straight one to all the silliness going on around her. Jennifer Hudson also shows up as one of the nuns, but doesn’t get much to do outside of one rather impromptu musical number. Kate Upton was used heavily in the trailers promoting the film in her sexy nunkini (nun bikini), but is really downplayed in the finished product. Sofía Vergara and Craig Bierko are pretty good as the devious cheaters – though they’re pretty far removed from classic Stooges villains, they work fine as foils for the boys. While the overall plot line of saving the orphanage is the main focus of the story, there’s enough other stuff going on to keep the comedic trio and the film’s pacing moving along. At 92 minutes, The Farrelly Brothers never risk overdoing the wacky antics, but rather keep it short and sweet.

One of the big controversial points with fans has been the decision to set the film in present day, and more importantly the inclusion of THE JERSEY SHORE cast… who are all in it. The first trailer even ends with Moe and Snooki in a goofy moment. For those angered by the self-proclaimed “Goombas” presence, not to worry, as almost every single moment they’re on screen finds them getting poked and slapped by Moe in rough fashion. I personally found myself glad they were there afterward, if only because of how they were used. I know, I know, you hate the fact they’re in it – but I’m telling you, like so many other unexpected and odd things in the film, it surprisingly just works. Perhaps my only real complaint, outside of the initial lengthy use of the young boy Stooges in the first act, would be the “Kids, don’t try this at home” disclaimer placed at the end of the film, which also uses slow motion to show how the pokes and hammer hits were done. Granted, if this is a movie kids are going to see, and I imagine it could be, then maybe it’s not a bad idea to have that scene in it… but it kind of feels like a cop-out by the Farrellys. Their movies have always been about silly toilet humor, and gross-out gags. Can you imagine a film like DUMB AND DUMBER having a safety warning at the end? Of course not. So why is that here? It kind of brings all the funny to a screeching halt as the credits begin to roll, and I think it may prove to be the biggest mistake of the movie.

That said, THE THREE STOOGES is the kind of film you’ll likely enjoy by going with an older (or if you’re older, a younger) family member and remember the classic comedy humor the original fellas brought on in their cinematic shorts. I went with my dad, who is 74, and he laughed himself silly in some scenes… and that alone made the whole thing worth it. This isn’t a movie I’ll watch many more times, but it is a nice way to reminisce about Moe, Larry and Curly in a modern day setting, and I think even the hardest moviegoing sensibilities would be likely to chuckle more than a few times.

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What you WON’T see in THE THREE STOOGES that you did see in the trailers

Wanna know something else “funny” about THE THREE STOOGES movie? Several of the scenes you saw in the trailers are actually not in the finished film. This seems to be an increasingly frustrating trend in movie trailer promotion. The easy answer has always been that trailers for films are normally cut and delivered to the studios long before the movie is finished, so it’s fair to assume some scenes the people cutting the trailers had access to would not make it into the final cut.  Nevertheless, we the moviegoers are left wondering why was that one particularly memorable moment we saw in all the advertisements not in the finished film?  Why were we deceived?  Should we be upset about this?  I’m anxious to get feedback here.  We’ll give you the rundown of what’s missing, and some of it may surprise you.

First of all, here’s the first trailer for the movie in case you forgot how it played…

Notable omissions – Kate Upton in the nun bikini (aka nunkini).  While she does wear it in the film, it’s only in a brief shot of her high atop a lifeguard chair.  The scene of her coming out of the pool is completely gone – nowhere to be seen. The shot above of her talking to the boys is also nowhere to the seen. Also, the scene with the “He’s got a headache” hammer gag is slightly different in the final film, probably just an alternate take but slightly different.

And here’s the more recent trailer which focuses primarily on the slapping, eye poking, and belly punching…

Firstly, you’ll notice a few shots of the boys on a grassy field covered in large fish, followed by a shot of Moe slapping one of the boys with said fish. The field of fish is in the movie, briefly – the fish slapping is not. In fact the fish scene is over almost immediately after it begins. The scenes of Moe slapping Larry and Curly on that field or hitting them with shovels are gone too.  The more disappointing omission (for me at least) was the rather well-choreographed slap and poke fight featuring the boys in tuxedos. It’s nowhere to be seen in the movie. The “Ready boys?” dancing scene, along with the backflip, is also gone.

Thoughts in the comments below, you numbskulls.

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