Written by: John O’Brien, Todd Phillips, Scot Armstrong
Starring: Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn, Juliette Lewis, Snoop Dogg
Rating: [3/5]
Buddy cop movies generally involve two officers of different backgrounds and attitudes towards their job allowing for a distinction between them and how they collectively make for an effective unit. A tried and true formula as this feature digs deep to bring back a duo from the 1970s set in that specific time period in Starsky & Hutch, which does just enough to get its fairly flaccid story over the line.
Unable to keep a partner because of the difficulty of working with him, Detective David Starsky (Ben Stiller) gets paired up with the aloof Detective Hutch. Together, they team up on a cause about cocaine that can pass off as not appearing like the substance through scent crafted by dealers, Reese Feldman (Vince Vaughn) and Kevin Jutsum (Jason Bateman).
Fairly straightforward with its story, Starsky & Hutch tries to hook in the audience with its time period and lead characters to allow for entertainment to be had and it certainly succeeds in that particular endeavor. Both very different in their approaches to the job, Starsky and Hutch bring a distinct level of personality allowing for some fun to be had outside of their investigation. Starsky plays everything by the book as he seeks to continue the family legacy of police officers following along with his mother. Hutch, on the other, works in a far more cavalier manner with the opening scene of him hilariously showing how he involves himself in a heist only to announce at the end he’s been working undercover and got caught on purpose.
Bringing these two together brings plenty of hijinks to the movie and the way they clash and then bond really makes this a fun movie to watch. Starsky takes everything entirely too seriously and by the book while Hutch plays everything far more relaxed. Each of their skills eventually comes into play in the film allowing for many comedic scenes. One scene, in particular, that involved Starsky reacting to something in his system, shows the hilarity involved with getting a straightforward person like this guy tripping on a substance.
Set in the 1970s like the series this feature emulates, it allows for many homages and displays a specific lifestyle and fashion of this particular era. Plenty of large mustaches, sideburns, and audacious clothing choices sum everything up allowing us to fully dive into what world these characters navigate in. The introduction of someone like Huggy Brown portrayed by Snoop Dog really says it all in the way these characters interact in this era and then someone like Captain Doby (Fred Williamson). You have never seen a more 70s police captain than this guy.
Operating as the villains we have Jason Bateman, but mostly Vince Vaughn as Reese Feldman. A fiery drug dealer who sees this next job as quite the payday for him and his family. His cavalier nature in shooting anyone that even merely inconveniences make him quite the liability at times, but does make others fearful of him. Vaughn does a great job of evoking the comedy he did best in the 2000s in releasing this anger but also an affability to demonstrate what makes him a successful businessman. The product he pushes here does sound quite intriguing as it’s not only cocaine but cocaine that cannot be detected by police dogs bred for the specific purpose of detecting it. Attaining this would allow for easy passage of illicit drugs, which makes it very valuable and allows for the comedic sequence mentioned previously about how it can be easily mistaken as anything other than cocaine.
While the cocaine may not smell like it, Starsky & Hutch definitely breeds success in the comedy it employs throughout the feature. These characters bring such personality to the film in filling in what makes this such a zany world. Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson each shine in their own way as the former brings his typical neurotic sensibilities to the forefront while the more laid-back latter seeks to play it cooler. They play to their strengths here and it serves as the benefit to the feature as they make each scene work between them allowing for the more unenjoyable aspect of this feature to easily be forgotten.
Films with Josh 
