Wessler Entertainment, C3 Entertainment Inc., Conundrum Entertainment
Sean Hayes, Will Sasso, Chris Diamantopoulos, Jennifer Hudson, Sofía Vergara, Jane Lynch, Craig Bierko, Stephen Collins, Larry David, Kirby Heyborne
Moe (Sean Hayes), Curly (Will Sasso), and Larry (Chris Diamantopoulos) have been best friends since childhood when they lived together in an orphanage. Coincidentally, the orphanage is about to go under and Monsignor Ratliffe (Brian Doyle-Murray) is here to tell the boys and girls (including the Stooges) that they’re out of a place to live and off to foster homes. This makes Curly happy because everyone knows Fosters is Australian for beer!!! So the boys set out “Blues Brothers” style on a mission from God to save the penguins. This leads to four segments featuring a great deal of homage to the original Stooges with lots of comedy to go around. There are a couple of other excellent casting choices too, including Jane Lynch as the Mother Superior, Jennifer Hudson as a singing nun, and Larry David as an unusual nun named Sister Mary Mengele who is a real riot.
This movie is a gas! Its been in the making for years. I’ve been playing an online game called Hollywood Stock Exchange for years and years. (HSX.COM) In this simulation, you have a sum of money to invest in movies, studios, and actors. I’ve always enjoyed it because it is an excellent way to learn what’s really going on in the film business as there is a ton of information on movies still in development, and through all stages until release. One of the films that was in there years ago was The Three Stooges. I bought shares almost immediately and held on to them for years and years and years until it finally came through. I’m glad they really waited until they found the right people and right script to make this happen. Moe is awesome, Larry is spot on and Will Sasso does Curly that is just like watching the real thing. I can’t imagine anyone doing a better job at Curly than Will.
If you’re one who hated the Stooges (female) then you’ll probably hate this film too, but if you’re a fan of the Stooges (male) then you’ll have a warm place in your heart for a fond tribute to the original classics. I have a personal fondness for the Stooges. These shorts were made for in between films in the theaters way back in the 30’s and had run their course and were basically forgotten. Back in the early days of television in the 50’s, there were not a lot of stuff for kids. This was just before the Mickey Mouse Club, and a few people had made some inroads in Children’s TV, mostly in the local areas. Bozo the Clown, Soupy Sales, Romper Room, and few other things were out there. In Pittsburgh WTAE Channel 4 was a new ABC affiliate and had an after school program called Popeye and Knish with Hank Stohl. Following that was Paul Shannon’s Adventure Time. Hank Stohl had good success with the Popeye cartoons but Paul Shannon was looking for a hook. He brought out the old Stooge shorts and started airing them on the show. They were something the kids of the 50’s had never seen. They caught on in a big way, and suddenly Moe was amazed all the fan mail coming from the kids in Pittsburgh. This lead to a huge resurgence in the old shorts, and the possibility of much new work for the team. They put the group back together and did new shorts, as well as an animated TV show featuring the new stooges and clips of the old shows. Right until the time Moe died, he was still trying to put the group back together.
This is an awesome tribute to the boys, and done with loving care. Meanwhile, it is really funny. It’s Stooge humor, so it’s slapstick, and seeing guys hit int he face with a sledgehammer is par for the course here. But that’s what we wanted to see, and while you’re laughing your head off at a series of gags that are perfect for an 8 year old boy, you’ve got a serious tear in your eye due to the memories of growing up with the Stooges. Kudos guys for an excellent tribute and one I gotta add to my collection. Please, if you a Stooge fan, check this out. It’s a riot.
EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog
Jack Goettman said
August 18 2012 @ 1:20 pm
Thanks, bro, for the insight into the old history and Channel 4 that I never knew because I was the tag-along younger brother!!! I loved it!!!
EdG said
August 18 2012 @ 3:54 pm
Yeah, even after moving to Los Angeles, I would often see Moe appear on a tv talk show or some kind of interview and he would always talk about that. He said he got a call from the movie studio asking him what the hell was going on in Pittsburgh. He gave Paul Shannon full credit for extending their careers another couple decades. Yep, Nyuk, Nyuk, Nyuk was often heard in the school days back then. We used go around singing B-A BAY, B-E-BEE, B-I Bicky-Bi-B-O Bo for hours on the school bus too. We must have been such annoying kids.
My story about “appearing” with the cub scouts on the Paul Shannon show is a classic too. It ought to be in a book!