Deux et Un (France)
Brothers stick together
Rating: 6/10
Running Time: 118 minutes
UK Certificate: 12A
If there's anyone you can count on to poke a bit of fun at a socially sensitive subject, it's the Farrelly brothers. In 'Me, Myself & Irene' it was schizophrenia, in 'Shallow Hal' it was obesity, and now, in 'Stuck On You', we have Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear as a couple of conjoined twins seeking fame and fortune in Hollywood.
As usual, the self-appointed political correct police haven't been slow to condemn, with the film's central theme oft described as "sick" or "in bad taste". My only response to such people would be to tell them to go and see this film for themselves, for 'Stuck On You' is actually surprisingly touching – certainly far more so than anything the Farrellys have given us before.
In fact, if there's anything even slightly offensive about this movie, it's not the subject matter but the lack of decent laughs. Unlike early Farrelly works like 'Dumb & Dumber', 'Kingpin' or 'There's Something About Mary', the gross-out stuff is largely given a miss, and it seems the directorial duo have little in their arsenal to replace it with. Perhaps surprisingly, the premise doesn't actually leave itself open to a great number of decent jokes, and the comedy suffers as a result.
Thankfully, everything else about the movie is extremely likeable. Damon and Kinnear produce two heart-warming performances, and I'd even say you'll feel yourself becoming attached to them if I didn't fear that such a shoddy joke will already have been used by at least 100 other reviewers. The horrifically plastic Cher (God knows what percentage synthetic she is these days) proves she's game for a laugh by taking a role that largely involves mocking herself. Pass marks too for Seymour Cassel as a geriatric agent, and the stunning Eva Mendes who's there purely as eye candy – but doesn't she do it well?
It's Got: Notable cameos from Meryl Streep and the giant-headed Frankie Muniz. And look out for Rhona Mitra - of Ali G Indahouse and The Life of David Gale fame - playing "Bus Stop Bombshell" (not my words, the words of the cast list).
It Needs: Bigger belly laughs.
Summary
Not the funniest Farrelly flick, but surely the sweetest.