The
Farrelly Brothers have made fun of fat people (Shallow
Hal), dumb people (Dumb
and Dumber), one-handed people (Kingpin),
stalkers (There's Something About Mary), germs (Osmosis Jones),
and split-personality people (Me,
Myself, and Irene). What's left, you may ask? Why,
conjoined twins, of course!
Greg Kinnear and Matt Damon play Siamese twins. That may be
giving away too much already, because you see...that's the movie.
In fact, even if you haven't seen the trailers, you could probably write
a lot of this film yourself. Just imagine all the things that
would be funny as a conjoined twin, and it's almost certainly in
Stuck on You. Of course, it probably wouldn't be as funny if
you actually were a conjoined twin, but that's okay...the
Farrelly Brothers are just out to have a good time.
The Masked Reviewer is all for having a good time, especially at the
expense of other people, but occasionally it feels like the Farrelly
Brothers aren't as concerned with 'laughing with people' as they are at
'laughing at people and then trying to pretend they're all laughing
together, thereby making it okay'. This was the case with
Shallow Hal, which was simply a lot of fat jokes strung together.
It seemed like the message of the movie was "Don't judge people by how
they look," which kind of felt dirty and cheezy after making fun of how
fat Gwyneth Paltrow's character was. "But it's okay, because fat
people are good too."
There's a similar uncomfortable moment in Stuck on You.
One character, Rocket, is played by a mentally handicapped guy (or
'retard'). They make fun of him, kind of, then stick up for him,
sort of. "He's our friend, so it's okay if we make fun of
him, because he's our friend, so it's okay, because we're not making fun
of him, we're making fun of how other people make fun of him, and you
might think that in the process we too are making fun of him, but we're
not, because he's our friend, and it's okay." Somehow, that seems
more offensive than just outright making fun of him. The very end
of the film, during the credits, features a long speech by Rocket,
sincerely thanking everyone for the opportunity. But, it just
seems to draw more attention to the fact that the Farrelly Brothers make
fun of people.
It's okay if they do. They can be funny. But the effort
to make it "okay" just seems lame.
Anyway, Greg Kinnear and Matt Damon play conjoined twins. They
don't really address the fact that they look nothing alike. Maybe
they're fraternal conjoined twins? Do those even exist?
Maybe one had plastic surgery?
Unlike other Farrelly Brothers flicks, this one doesn't feature any
big-name, over-the-top comedic actors. No Jack Black, no Jim
Carey, no Ben Stiller. As a result, Kinnear and Damon give kinder,
gentler, less goofy performances. However, it's a bit out of place
in such a nut-job movie. They are both charming, though, and they
have a certainly level of dignity that the Masked Reviewer found
refreshing in this kind of movie.
There are good (albeit brief) supporting performances by both Cher
and Meryl Streep. The Masked Reviewer can't help but wonder why
these actresses would be doing this kind of movie, but they seemed to
have fun and were happy to poke fun at themselves. The Masked
Reviewer also can't help but to think that with Cher, Meryl Streep, and the
birth-defective twins, perhaps the original title of the film was
Silkwood 2.
Eva Mendes and some woman the Masked Reviewer never heard of play the
two love interests in the film. They're fine. But really,
it's more about those wacky situations that two guys joined together at
the waist get themselves into. The Masked Reviewer won't ruin the
site gags, because that's what the film is all about, and if you see it,
you'll want to be surprised.
It's not as good as many of their other films, but it does have a few
good laughs. They tried to put in a bit too much touchy-feely
emotional stuff, which feels out of place. The film does feature
the best fight scene featuring conjoined twins this year.
The difference in the acting ability of the two leads is staggering.
Why would someone cast such a brilliant actor and conjoin him to a
no-talent hack? Just in case one of those two actors decides to do
an interview with the Masked Reviewer, he will not reveal which one is
the hack and which one is the great actor. Really, it could go
either way.
The end of the film features a long musical number with singing by
Greg Kinnear. It's too long and isn't the best way to end a film
that tends to drag in parts anyway.
All in all, it's not nearly as funny as it could've been, it's
certainly low-brow even for the Farrelly Brothers, and you will probably
see a lot of the jokes and plot points coming from a mile away. It
has a few moments and some good site gags, but it could've been better.
The Farrelly Brothers' movies
Expectation from the Title: During his kindergarten final
exam, Little Johnny is doing well on his alphabet, until he freezes...is
the next letter V, or W? Sweat forms on his brow, as he realizes
that this is the moment that could change his life...forever.
Mother's Rule (Always Say Something Good About Everything):
The twins are very nice to each other.
The Pros: A few good site gags, good humouredness by Cher and
Meryl Streep.
The Cons: Predictable, goofy, but not as funny as other
Farrelly Brothers movies.