Review: "The 3 Stooges" is odd update of old serials

Review: "The 3 Stooges" PG-13
The Farrelly brothers, of 'Something about Mary' and 'Dumb and Dumber' tackle the physical slapstick comedy of Larry, Curley and Moe (but not Shemp), the 3 stooges of the old 1930s to 1950s serials. One might argue the stooges invented the formula for whacked out stunts later popularized on Jackass, and it's a wonder they didn't cast anyone from Jackass in the movie. The disclaimer about stunts is on the end of the movie, when there should be one on the beginning also. The story starts about 25 years ago at an orphanage where three insane toddlers are dropped off, and who grow up to be completely demented, but silly also. The mother superior and the nuns have kept them around despite one attempt years earlier to send them off with rich folks. Then there is this convoluted plot involving the rich folks, an evil fiance, and a crazy hit man, and the stooges attempting to get almost a million bucks to save the orphanage. The casting of the stooges was quite good and the guy playing Moe is especially accurate to the old shorts. They were seen many, many years ago on TV in the 1980s but in rerun. The shorts post 1952 weren't any good. The 1970s cartoon was crap. The movie goes back to the origin stories of the Depression era 1930s but updated to 2012 instead of 1932. They even toss in a reality TV show, 'The Jersey Shore' instantly dating the movie, so in ten years it won't make any sense. But it is funny that they make fun of the genre, and if one thinks about reality TV also, the stooges kind of thought of that too, or at least vaudeville type slapstick humor and that kind of random slapstick angry humor is similar enough so one could be a descendant of the other. And naturally it is Moe who beats the show actors at their game. The other two couldn't have done it. The Stooges aren't so much altruists, as the Ren and Stimpy guys thought, so much as they're fake altruists. If their bunging doesn't kill them, the world will. Actually Dumb and Dumber was in this ballpark too. If you like the physical comedy and crudeness it's your movie. If not, you probably shouldn't rent it later.
Review by Adam Browne