The Three Stooges (2012)

The Three Stooges (PG) - Review

"Hey Moe!"

The Farrelly brothers long hinted at and long overdue Stooges relaunch is more Shemp than Curly, but even the lesser known Stooge had his moments.  The Farrelly's play up the vaudevillian plots that they love and adore from the old shorts, orphanages in need of saving, cartoonish slapstick violence and simpleton fish out of water stories, and hastily thrown them into our century.  The mashup of Larry Moe and Curly and the dolts from Jersey Shore never attains greatness, but as any Stooge fan knows, who needs great when you have funny?  The cloud of the long rumored superstar cast (Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro?) that had once been attached lay over this film like a dark shadow.  Only Curly, played by Will Sasso (MadTV), has any obvious funny bones to break, this was the role he was born to play, outshining his fellow Stooges who can just imitate voices and pull faces instead of rely on comic timing.  Curly Howard was always the lynch pin to the act, when he died in 1952 they never could get all of the magic back.  Here he is, as close as there's ever been to a reincarnation, and it feels good to laugh again.

6 Porcupines out of 10 (GOOD)