There are several movies out now or that will be out soon that I want to see. Thankfully work is starting to slow back down for me, so I’m getting a chance to go to more movies again. I had a chance to go to a movie today and I ended up seeing Starsky & Hutch. I did think that movie looked interesting from the previews, though I did want to see something else first. The timing worked out for Starsky & Hutch, so that is what I saw today. I hope to see the other movie later this week.

David Starsky and Ken Hutchinson were police officers on the Bay City police department. Starsky was very serious and by the book. Hutch seemed more willing to bend, or even break laws. Things didn’t go well when Starsky was chasing a suspect, and he was in trouble with Captain Doby again. Starsky had gone through twelve partners in four years. Captain Doby decided to make Starsky and Hutch partners. Starsky met Huggy Bear for the first time when Hutch stopped to discuss something with him. Huggy Bear owned a night club and seemed to know what was going on in Bay City.

Reese Feldman was planning a huge drug deal. He managed to come up with a way to make cocaine undetectable. Reese was planning to make a lot of money on the deal, and he wasn’t happy when one of the plans didn’t arrive. Friday, a man that was working closely with Reese, seemed to be uncomfortable about what Reese did. Friday was very nervous. He was mixed up in the drug deal that was being planned. Friday was almost always with Reese. Reese’s wife wasn’t around much, but his girlfriend Kitty was around during some meetings and was aware of what was going on. She was even involved in some things.

Starsky and Hutch started to work on a murder case. A man’s body washed up from the ocean. Starsky and Hutch discovered a connection to Reese and questioned him about the dead man. Reese remained calm about that, but Friday was ready to panic and wanted to call off the drug deal until things cooled down. Huggy Bear shared the little bit of information he knew about the drug deal. He also did some other things to help the investigation. Starsky and Hutch followed a lead and met Staci and Holly, cheerleaders who knew the dead men. Starsky and Hutch also had to deal with some other officers, like Manetti, teasing them all the time.

CAST

Ben Stiller - David Starsky
Owen Wilson - Ken Hutchinson/Hutch
Snoop Dogg - Huggy Bear
Fred Williamson - Captain Doby
Vince Vaughn - Reese Feldman
Juliette Lewis - Kitty
Jason Bateman - Friday
Amy Smart - Holly
Carmen Electra - Staci
Chris Penn - Manetti
Molly Sims - Mrs. Feldman
Paul Michael Glasser - Original Starsky
David Soul - Original Hutch
Will Ferrell - Big Earl (uncredited)

Todd Phillips - Director

Starsky & Hutch was released on March 5, 2004. The movie was 101 minutes long and rated PG-13. This wasn’t a movie for young children. The movie was based on a television show from the seventies of the same name. I’m too young to remember seeing the show, so I really don’t know how close to the show the movie stayed. I have seen bits and pieces of some episodes on some cable channels in reruns, and I think the show was more serious than the movie was. The actors who played Starsky and Hutch on the television show turned up briefly.

Starsky & Hutch was an action comedy movie. It was similar to the Lethal Weapon and Rush Hour movies. Starsky and Hutch were two very different cops who were put together, much like what happened with Roger and Martin in the first Lethal Weapon movie. Starsky & Hutch wasn’t as serious of a movie as the first Lethal Weapon movie was, and there wasn’t as much violence in it either. There was a little bit of violence in Starsky & Hutch, but it wasn’t too bad. I don’t think the violence would bother anyone. There was action in several scenes, including some fights and a car chase or two. There was enough going on in the movie to keep things interesting.

There were a lot of things that I thought were funny in Starsky & Hutch. Starsky was so serious and focused that he ended up looking silly at times. Since the movie was set in the seventies, some characters wore some interesting looking clothes. Some of the outfits made me giggle. I don’t remember anything from the seventies since I was only around for part of that decade, but if the clothing was accurate in this movie, I’m glad I wasn’t any older and didn’t have to wear stuff like that. Overall, this was a light-hearted movie, though it did deal with drugs, which is serious. Someone was shown high on cocaine at one point with some very funny results. I do know that some people aren’t happy when movies make light of serious things like that, but it didn’t bother me. Will Ferrell had a small as Big Earl, the owner of a biker bar that was obsessed with dragons who was in jail. Starsky and Hutch went to talk to him, and that short scene was one of the funniest in the movie thanks to Ferrell. During a few scenes, characters used disguises which were very funny. Starsky ran in a scene or two and that was very funny because he ran weird.

Starsky & Hutch was set in the seventies, which is noticeable from the cars, hairstyles and wardrobes of the characters. Starsky used a manual typewriter at the police station when he was typing up a report. There was an eight-track player in Hutch’s house. All of those things did look realistic to me from what I have seen from some television shows from that time. Throughout the movie, music from the seventies played. I did recognize all the songs that played. I thought that they picked decent songs to have in the movie, though others may not agree. A Barry Manilow song did play briefly at the beginning of the movie. I do think it was good that the movie was set in the seventies since that is when the television show was made. Some other television shows from that time period, or even earlier, have been made into movies set in modern times. That doesn’t always work that well. Though there was a lot more wrong with the second Charlie’s Angels movie than the time period.

There were some sexual situations in Starsky & Hutch, though there weren’t any real sex scenes. In one scene, a cheerleader was undressing while talking to Starsky and Hutch. Her bare back was all that was shown, but it was clear that she had taken off her clothes. Later in the movie, Holly and Staci, two other cheerleaders, kissed each other. It was later hinted at the fact that there had been a threesome involving them and one other person, though nothing was really shown. The locker room at the police station was featured in a scene, and men were shown without their shirts. No bare behinds were shown at any time during the movie.

Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson were good in Starsky & Hutch. They were both very funny. They have worked together on several movies in the past, though I think they had more time together in this movie than they have before. They work well together. Snoop Dogg was good as Huggy Bear. I haven’t seen him in any other movies before, though I do know that he has been in a few others. He was believable in the role. Vince Vaughn was very good as Reese Feldman. I didn’t even recognize him. I didn’t recognize Jason Bateman at first in his part as Friday either. Juliette Lewis didn’t have many scenes as Kitty, but she was good in the ones she did have. Carmen Electra and Amy Smart had even fewer scenes as Staci and Holly.

CHARACTERS

David Starsky - He was a police officer on the Bay City force. He was serious and focused all the time. Some of his co-workers enjoyed teasing him about that. He went a little over board at times when he was working on a case. He really wanted to do things to help people. His job was important to him.

Ken Hutchinson - Another police officer. He was laid back and work wasn’t that important to him. He didn’t have a problem with bending or even breaking some laws at times. He acted like he didn’t care about anything, but that wasn’t true. He got more serious about his job later.

Huggy Bear - He owned a night club and had connections around the city. He knew about what was going on. He and Hutch had known each other for a while. Huggy Bear worked with the police.

Reese Feldman - Rich man who was selling drugs. He managed to come up with a way to make cocaine undetectable. He was married and had a daughter, but he also had a girlfriend. Reese didn’t like it when things didn’t go his way. He had his way of getting even.

Friday - He worked with Reese. Friday was very nervous about the big drug deal Reese was planning. Friday didn’t like some of the things that Reese did.

Kitty - Reese’s girlfriend. She was a bit ditzy, but she was around when Reese conducted some of his business meetings. She was involved in some of his plans.

Captain Doby - He assigned Starsky and Hutch to work together. Doby wasn’t happy with several of the things that they did.

Staci and Holly - Two cheerleaders that Starsky and Hutch first talked to about the case they were working on and later took them out.

Starsky & Hutch was a funny, entertaining movie. There were some more serious things in the movie, but it wasn’t meant to be a serious movie. This is just a movie to go to and be entertained for a little while. Fans of Ben Stiller or Owen Wilson may enjoy the movie. This isn’t a movie that everyone will enjoy. People who are looking for a more serious action/police movie should look elsewhere.

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Recommended: Yes