An element that’s been conspicuously absent from many recent so-called comedies has been the comedy. I’m happy to report that is not the case with “Starsky & Hutch,” writer-director Todd Phillips’ satiric big screen rendering of the late ’70s buddy-cop TV drama. While not quite as consistently hilarious as “Old School,” the most notable gut-buster in Phillips’short but impressive oeuvre, “Starsky & Hutch” is easily the funniest film of the year so far and well worth the trip to your local immeasura-plex. Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn lead an irresistible cast that boasts solid supporting efforts from Snoop Dogg, Will Ferrell, Carmen Electra, Amy Smart and Jason Bateman.
Detectives David Starsky (Stiller) and Ken “Hutch” Hutchinson (Wilson) are the odd couple of the Bay City police force. Starsky’s a monomaniacal crime-fighter wound tighter than his ’70s-chic blue jeans, while Hutch is a rule-bending slacker with an insatiable appetite for pleasure. Drug kingpin Reese Feldman (Vaughn) has a large shipment of cocaine headed to Bay City — actually, Los Angeles — and our heroes must intercept it and prove they’re not the total screw-ups their captain (Fred Williamson) thinks they are. That’s all the plot Phillips needs to turn his leading men loose on disco-era excess: The fat rides, the dance clubs, leisure suits … it’s all in there, along with funkadelic informer Huggy Bear (a pimped-out Snoop Dogg making the most of his screen time), a prison inmate (Ferrell) who entertains homoerotic fantasies about dragons, and a pair of cop-craving cheerleaders (Electra and Smart). There are several laugh-out-loud set pieces, including a “Saturday Night Fever”-inspired dance-off and Wilson crooning “Don’t Give Up On Us, Baby” — a No. 1 single for TV’s Hutch (David Soul).
Stiller’s got his foot on the gas the entire ride, while Wilson is happy to glide along on cruise control. The contrast is highly effective and the actors’harmony undeniable, as well it should be, considering “Starsky” marks the duo’s sixth film collaboration. Vaughn plays the slick bad guy with typical aplomb, and Electra and Smart, well, they kiss each other. Production designer Edward Verreaux authentically captures the retro look in all its muted ingloriousness, and the soundtrack is a tasty mélange of freedom rock, soul and funk. (Rated PG-13 for drug content, sexual situations, partial nudity, language and some violence. Running time: 100 minutes)
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 5, 2004. Read the original PDF.