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Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson--dark, wiry, and tense meets blond, lanky, and loose--make a solid comic team (and previously appeared together in
Zoolander), but the funniest man in
Starsky and Hutch is Vince Vaughn. Vaughn dives into his role as a sleazy drug dealer (who nonetheless buys a pony for his daughter's bat mitzvah) with the offhand zest that he brings to almost every role (from
Swingers to
Old School) and effortlessly steals every scene he's in. Vaughn has concocted a new and undetectable kind of cocaine, and only two cops who aren't afraid to break the rules--our titular pair--can catch him. But the plot isn't the point; mocking-yet-loving jabs at the '70s, including the homoerotic overtones of Starsky and Hutch's partnership, are what this movie is about. The satire is surprisingly mild but entertaining nonetheless, particularly when Vaughn or Snoop Dogg (as informant Huggy Bear) hold the screen. --
Bret Fetzer
Synopsis
Hot on the heels of his hilarious college romp
Old School, director Todd Phillips returns with a film that mocks the television cop dramas of the 1970s. Based on the crime-fighting television series of the same name,
Starsky & Hutch follows the exploits of two west coast detectives. David Starsky (Ben Stiller) is a by-the-books officer who would like nothing more than to expose his partner Hutch's bouts of inconsistency. Ken "Hutch" Hutchinson (Owen Wilson) is a far more open-minded spirit with a tendency for meandering. Added to the mix is the world's coolest informant, Huggy Bear (Snoop Dogg), who wears an endless parade of 'stylish' outfits. Starsky and Hutch's rival is the charming yet brutal Reese Feldman (Vince Vaughn), a maniacal drug lord with an absurd moustache who is prone to dramatic outbursts. Phillips uses freeze frames and slow-motion to up the comic ante, while Stiller and Wilson prove that they are a truly compatible duo, and, finally, Will Ferrell makes yet another scene-stealing cameo--all factors that ensure a long shelf life for this raucous spoof.