Reviewed by Victor Rebikoff.
Director: Todd Phillips, Dimension Films & Warner Bros, M 101 Minutes.
This entertaining remake from Director Todd Phillips (‘The Hangover’ franchise) is based on the popular TV series ‘Starsky and Hutch’ televised in the 1970’s and set in the metropolis called Bay City.
In this send-up of the original the two police detectives are played by Ben Stiller (‘Meet the Fockers’) as Starsky and Owen Wilson (‘Wedding Crashers’) as Hutch, using the same comic contrasts that worked for both Martin and Lewis.
Although appearing as misfits for the Bay City police they are always ready for the next case by racing off in their super charged red and white 1974 Ford Torino with styles as different as chalk and cheese.
It’s 1975 and Starsky and Hutch are on their first big case about a big drug deal going down after being informed by snitch Huggy Bear (Snoop Dogg – ‘Soul Plane’) about the plan by drug dealer Reese Feldman (Vince Vaughn – ‘Fred Claus’).
In between hunting down Feldman for the sale of illicit drugs and the matter of an earlier murder committed on his boat they still manage to find time to party with attractive cheerleaders as part of their investigation.
As it turns out when the crunch comes Feldman is determined not to let two crazy cops take him down without a fight.
Phillips has only partially succeeded in his attempt to reimagine the exploits of the 70’s TV police detectives Starsky and Hutch onto the big screen, mainly due to a plot that appears to be inconsistent with the overall storyline.
The main enjoyment is derived from the chemistry between Stiller and Wilson especially the antics they get up to in a number of funny scenes and in particular when Stiller takes control of his Ford Gran Torino.
Apart from the performances from the two leading stars one cannot overlook those of Vaughan as the main villain and Dogg as the informant in his retro outfits.
In addition, there is a fitting tribute to the original stars of the Starsky and Hutch TV series, Paul Michael Glaser and David Soul, in the concluding scene.
Starsky and Hutch is to be televised on 9GO at 9.30pm on Friday 4 June.
Vic’s Verdict: 3 Stars
