Starsky & Hutch
Everybody is tired, and poor and sick of trying. Nothing like a good bit of Billy Talent after watching a good movie. Which is basically what I was doing earlier today. With the Starsky & Hutch DVD arriving recently I pulled out my reviews pen (ok it’s a keyboard and it is always out) and began to write.

To be honest I wasn’t really interested in the film. The original sounded good, it was a hugely popular cult legend about two cool cops. Not that I knew much about it but the short bursts of visual imagery and bits of ideology I had picked up on appealed to me. This new film, being sold as a comedy, did not.

Thankfully though, it isn’t a comedy. I mean sure there are a few laughs on it and it’s not as serious as the original but it still made a good movie without the comedic effect that I really didn’t want to see. End result, the movie was going to be better than my expectations.

I’m going to talk about that some more actually. I was just reading the back of the DVD box and it says “comes the hilarious comedy based on the 1970s TV series.” Not true, but don’t be fooled into thinking that is a bad thing. It was a great mix of the occasional laugh. Actually I’m steering you too far, it isn’t a serious movie, so I guess it could be classed as a comedy. Let’s just leave it at – it’s good.

Ben Stiller takes on the role of David Starsky the cop on a mission to solve every crime no matter how big or how small, dedicated to the job, etc but more importantly has a really cool car. Meanwhile Owen Wilson plays Ken “Hutch” Hutchinson the laid back cop that lives in a camper van. You can see the genre conventions from the word go, but let’s face it, they work.

Just to make sure it has some kind of celebrity pulling power, Snoop Dogg also joins the cast to play the “urban informant” Huggy Bear. To be honest there is some nice comedy moments with Huggy but then again most movies have their comic relief character.

Plus would the movie have really been complete without cameo appearances from the originals, David Soul and Paul Michael Glaser. Technically it would have been complete but it’s just so much better to know that they appear. It’s probably one of those security issues I have but the fact is it was cool to have them included.

I film is fast paced enough to keep your interest although it’s hideously predictable. Show me a cop movie where it isn’t two opposites thrown together and go off investigating a crime and know it is someone but get thrown off the case and have to try and solve it anyway – nobody pulls it off like Beverly Hills Cop though many, many movies have tried.

Flicking through the other reviews of the movie, for once the other critics seem to agree with me. It was an enjoyable film, the cast really brought the movie to life and it wasn’t a total disaster like so many re-makes or whatever you would call this film but the fact is that it was sold as a very funny comedy and it simply wasn’t - Maze Post.

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