TB4000
12-13-2003, 11:14 AM
After Kittygirl's eloquent deconstruction of The Last Samurai, and the hiatus of my university newspaper job, I feel I needed an outlet to critically acclaim and/or destroy a recent movie. The one I have chosen is a tiny piece of fluff known as Stuck On You, the latest in the line of Farrelly Bros.-directed movies. These two have become semi-household names since the release of Dumb and Dumber, which I still think was a fluke thanks to Fire Marshall Bill aka Jim Carrey. The recurring theme in their flicks could best be summed up as, "the freak, no matter how bizzare or handicapped they are, can come out on top". Dumb and Dumber had the two Mensa members Harry and Lloyd, Kingpin had Woody Harrelson as a bowler with a hook for a hand, and Shallow Hal took a swipe at obesity with Gwyneth Paltrow in a fat suit(though having someone who actually was larger play the part as opposed to makeup would've gotten the point across moreso). Now they take on the always hilarious issue of conjoined twins, which used to be known as siamese twins, to which Matt Damon's character corrects another character because they are, after all, "American." The flick has a few moments that'll make you grin, but they're few and far between.
The two heroes, Bob and Walt(played by Mr. Ripley and Greg Kinnear respectively), have pretty much been going through life as normally as possible...going to school, playing sports, and what have you, only they're literally joined at the hip. Here in adulthood, they've settled into a nice little rut in a small town, running a fast food joint. Bob is happy as a muskrat in heat, got a decent job, a decent internet girlfriend named May Fong whom he's never met in real life(played by Wen Yann Shih...she used to be a Power Rangers villain...go figure), while Walt is the exact polar opposite. He wants out of the small town life and aspires to be an ac-TOR in Hollywood. Bob reluctantly agrees to help him with this goal, and soon the two are off on a big city adventure to L.A., with skyscrapers and every-thang.
If you watch tv on a daily basis as I do, you pretty much know what's happening next with the plot...they meet up with Cher, who wants them cast in her current sitcom hoping that the freakish brothers will cause immediate cancellation so she can go on to indie films, Walt hooks up with Eva Mendes' character named April, a parody of girls who grew up in Hollywood, as when she sees how Bob and Walt are joined together she asks, "where'd you guys get that done?" The rest of the movie is basically a string of jokes aimed at bullies picking on the two brothers, Three's Company-like misunderstandings(May lives in L.A. now, and finds out that Bob is there, and has no idea he's a conjoined twin...dum-dum-DUMMMMM!!), and some a couple funny pokes at the entertainment industry's idiocy when it comes to their overgrown desire for movies and television to bring in quick cash by any means neccessary. It's not as mean spirited as some of their earlier works, though it does have a few sterotype-induced groaners, such as when Walt sees Bob's girlfriend for the first time in real life, he casually says to Bob the so over-used it's become ridiculous phrase, "Me so horny...".
Of course, everything gets wrapped up in a neat little package, the two brothers live happily ever after with their asian and latina significant others, all problems are resolved, and the Farrellys have once again made a profit out of a re-hashed plot device...until the next one, that is.
The two heroes, Bob and Walt(played by Mr. Ripley and Greg Kinnear respectively), have pretty much been going through life as normally as possible...going to school, playing sports, and what have you, only they're literally joined at the hip. Here in adulthood, they've settled into a nice little rut in a small town, running a fast food joint. Bob is happy as a muskrat in heat, got a decent job, a decent internet girlfriend named May Fong whom he's never met in real life(played by Wen Yann Shih...she used to be a Power Rangers villain...go figure), while Walt is the exact polar opposite. He wants out of the small town life and aspires to be an ac-TOR in Hollywood. Bob reluctantly agrees to help him with this goal, and soon the two are off on a big city adventure to L.A., with skyscrapers and every-thang.
If you watch tv on a daily basis as I do, you pretty much know what's happening next with the plot...they meet up with Cher, who wants them cast in her current sitcom hoping that the freakish brothers will cause immediate cancellation so she can go on to indie films, Walt hooks up with Eva Mendes' character named April, a parody of girls who grew up in Hollywood, as when she sees how Bob and Walt are joined together she asks, "where'd you guys get that done?" The rest of the movie is basically a string of jokes aimed at bullies picking on the two brothers, Three's Company-like misunderstandings(May lives in L.A. now, and finds out that Bob is there, and has no idea he's a conjoined twin...dum-dum-DUMMMMM!!), and some a couple funny pokes at the entertainment industry's idiocy when it comes to their overgrown desire for movies and television to bring in quick cash by any means neccessary. It's not as mean spirited as some of their earlier works, though it does have a few sterotype-induced groaners, such as when Walt sees Bob's girlfriend for the first time in real life, he casually says to Bob the so over-used it's become ridiculous phrase, "Me so horny...".
Of course, everything gets wrapped up in a neat little package, the two brothers live happily ever after with their asian and latina significant others, all problems are resolved, and the Farrellys have once again made a profit out of a re-hashed plot device...until the next one, that is.