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Stuck On You
2003 - PG-13 - 105 Mins.
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| Director: Peter Farrelly, Bobby Farrelly | | Producer: Peter Farrelly, Bobby Farrelly, Charles B Wessler, Kristofer W Meyer | | Written By: Peter Farrelly, Bobby Farrelly | | Starring: Matt Damon, Greg Kinnear, Eva Mendes, Cher, Michael Callan |
| Review by: Greg Ursic |
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Bob (Matt Damon) and Walt (Greg Kinear) are like most twins: they have distinct personalities, play jokes on each other, share their dreams, and fears, go on the occasional double date and argue. You’d be hard pressed to find a pair of siblings closer than they are, supporting one another through thick and thin, or simply standing up for that matter - when you’re conjoined twins, you don’t really have much choice. Unfortunately for panic prone Bob, Walts’ decision to pursue his dream of becoming an actor is not exactly welcome news. Will Hollywood split up yet another happy family?
I went to the press screening of this film with a bit of trepidation: every film that the Farrelly brothers (Peter and Bobby) have been involved with since 1988 has carried the tagline “from the producers of “There’s Something About Mary”. While the witty gross-out comedy was a glowing success, their projects since then have been largely hit and miss (mostly miss – the abominable “Me, Myself and I” and “Shallow Hal” immediately spring to mind). Unfortunately most audiences have come to expect the next TSAM, which led to a poor showing for 1999’s “Outside Providence” a perky edgy little film about growing up (it’s the one with Alex Baldwin in a wife beater shirt and a 3 legged dog – 20 of which showed up for the audition). Still I was determined to go in with an open mind and found myself pleasantly surprised.
Usually cast as the cocky guy who gets the girl (something he apparently believes offstage) Matt Damon plays against type in this film - Bob is quiet and bookish, believes in monogamy, true love and puppy dogs, doesn’t have a spontaneous bone in his body and is content slinging burgers in his diner. Damon is at his funniest onstage, either bathed in sweat or breathing into his little bag. The only thing that Bob shares with his brother is a hunk of liver, hold the onions. Kinnear’s Walt inhabits the other end of the spectrum - a smooth talking lothario, he’s also a big ham who seeks out the spotlight, and craves adventure.
In spite of their characters’ awkward situation – Damon and Kinnear rarely get to look at one another face to face - their timing is impeccable, and they feed off one another. This extends to the physicality of the roles, something which obviously took a lot of work as they are required to move in unison and execute several fairly acrobatic sequences while strapped together. They are bolstered by a wonderful supporting cast.
Eva Mendes is bang on as the straight shooting vapid bimbo with ample assets who dispenses the occasional nuggets of wisdom and is able to look past Walt and Bob’s condition. Wenn Yan shih is for lack of a better word cute, and let’s not forget adorable as May, the object of Bob’s affection. Meryl Streep one of the grand dames of serious Hollywood films displays a playful humorous side that we see all too rarely. And finally there is Cher, who plays, well, herself, but with a bit of an edge –a stone cold diva with an attitude(or as she notes, “I’m a Bit** with a capital C.”), she gets what she wants, when she wants it. She continually makes fun of herself, her career, and some of the not niceties of the Hollywood machine, getting big laughs in the process (the scene when she’s out shopping with her assistant had most of the audience in tears they were laughing so hard). .
If you’re looking for “There’s Still Something About Mary” you may want to consider checking out another film. But if you want to be entertained, keep your ticket - Stuck on You is as an enjoyable film with a great sense of humor, that relies on sight gags and mild sophomoric humor rather than bodily fluids for its punch lines . Beneath the jokes there’s also a warm story with great characters and a big heart (and no they don’t share one).
As an aside, if you think that the characters wouldn’t be able to enjoy amorous encounters, Chang and Eng Bunker, the original Siamese twins married sisters and proved quite fruitful: Eng and his wife had eleven children, and Chang and his wife had ten.
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