Starsky and Hutch
starring Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn, Juliette Lewis, Fred Williamson, Jason Bateman, Snoop Dogg, Carmen Electra, Chris Penn, David Soul and Paul Glazer
written by John O’Brien, Todd Phillips and Scott Armstrong
directed by Todd Phillips
I remember watching the original Starsky and Hutch television show, starring Paul Glazer and David Soul, in the 1970s. But I don’t remember it being as bad as this movie. Of course, this is more Ben Stiller refuse. What is it with that guy?
Coincidentally, no sooner did I watch the Pierce Brosnan movie, After the Sunset, in which I was happy to see Chris Penn in a small role, than I saw him again in Starsky and Hutch. So, what was Penn’s last film? One or the other. And, no sooner did I watch Joaquin Phoenix play Johnny Cash in Walk the Line than I heard the Cash song Folsom Prison Blues used in a biker bar scene in Starsky and Hutch. Maybe it is an omen telling me to buy a Johnny Cash Greatest Hits CD.
The funniest thing about this movie is the 1970s details: the Afro hair styles; the bell bottom pants; the disco culture and vocabulary; the 3-speed bicycles with monkey bars and banana seats; the radio headphones; electric typewriters; the police action plots featuring rogue cops, or burned-out plain clothes detectives living on the edge. It reminded me of other 70s police/detective shows I used to watch - Rockford Files, Streets of San Francisco, Beretta, and Canon. Now, compare those kinds of shows with 1980s police dramas like Barney Miller, Magnum PI, T.J. Hooker, and Hill Street Blues. Wow! What a difference. But in the future Ben Stiller, or someone just like him, will make a movie playing on the 80s genre, and it will be just as stupid.
The best performance and the most interesting character here is rap singer Snoop Dogg as police informant Huggy Bear. In the final scene, Paul Glazer and David Soul themselves make a cameo appearance. That was fun.