Plot: What’s it about?
For nearly ten years now, Peter and Bobby Farrelly have been entertaining us. Well, let me revise that statement – they’ve been making us laugh. It is a matter of opinion as to their movies can be construed as “entertainment” or simple “gross-out humor”. In any case, I get a few chuckles every time I watch one of their movies (except “Me, Myself and Irene”) and their latest, “Stuck on You” is certainly no exception. Now to call their particular brand of humor an acquired taste is a bit like saying that “Lawrence of Arabia” is a good movie. To put it another way, their next feature is called “The Ringer” in which a man tries to infiltrate the Special Olympics in hopes to sweep the events. How off kilter is that? And I’ll be first in line to see it, no less. Though their critical and financial darling is “There’s Something About Mary”, every movie since hasn’t measured up in any sense of the word. “Shallow Hal” tanked as did “Me, Myself and Irene” and, sadly, so did this. But hey, what’s not funny about Siamese twins? Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear (and Academy Award Winner and Nominee respectively) pull out the stops and make for what I think is a very entertaining and funny film.
Bob (Matt Damon) and his brother Walt (Greg Kinnear) are joined at the hip – literally. They run a burger joint where they’re so good at their job; they give away the meal if it’s not served in under a few minutes. One works as the chef and the other the waiter. The fact that they’re Siamese twins not only makes them unique, but also gives them the ability to do two things at one. Bob is somewhat of an introvert and Walt is the exact opposite (odd, for two people who share the same liver). Walt has been bitten by the acting bug and convinces Walt to go out with him, “convinces” sounds like an odd choice of words as the two are connected, but some convincing is done nevertheless. Bob has an email buddy that he’s been chatting with for a few years and Walt uses this to his advantage to seal the deal. Once in Hollywood, the two are met with – well – what we might expect them to be met with. They live in a run down apartment complex full of aspiring actors, among them is April (Eva Mendes), about as naïve as they come. Walt lands a spot on Cher’s (playing herself in perhaps the funniest spot of the movie) television show and it takes off. The rest, as they say, is history and with the Farrelly brothers, you never know how it will end.
Video: How does it look?
“Stuck on You” is shown in an anamorphic 2.35:1 aspect ratio that looks decent, but not much better than that. Fox, long known for putting out some great transfers, seems to have possibly put too much material on this disc (never a complaint, except when it interferes with the image quality like here). There’s nothing that completely detracts from the visual presentation, but it just seems that this should look better than it does. Several scenes seem dim and almost murky, obviously the bright Los Angeles scenes seem vivid and bright, but on the whole I’d have to say I was a bit let down.
Audio: How does it sound?
The audio is fairly decent as well, though we can’t expect too much from a comedy movie, even one put out by the Farrelley Brothers. As intended, the Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack does deliver, though I can count the number of times on one hand that the surrounds were used. Dialogue is very clean, free of any distortion, too. This isn’t a bad track, just not something that stands out as being “top notch”.
Supplements: What are the extras?
“Stuck on You” features yet another commentary with Peter and Bobby. These two guys are really taken with themselves and seem to find it necessary to name every actor who appears on screen, no matter for how long. The commentary is funny, not too informative, but screen specific in the most literal sense of the word. Three featurettes are included in “It’s Funny – The Farrelly Formula” which brings in the cast of some of their other movies. It’s more of an homage to the Farrelly brothers and their movies. We know they’re funny and now you can too, sort of thing. “Stuck Together – Bringing ‘Stuck to You’ to Screen” tells just this. How the movie was written, cast and brought to the big screen. It’s your typical featurette and nothing more. Lastly, we have “Making it Stick – The Special Effects of ‘Stuck on You””. This tells the obvious challenge of working with two separate actors in Kinnear and Damon and making them appear as conjoined twins. Surprisingly a lot of work went into it and it’s the most interesting featurette of the three. There are the obligatory outtakes as well as some Deleted Scenes that were best left on the cutting room floor. The trailer rounds out the special features. All in all, if you’re a fan of the Farrelly brand of humor, then this is your cup of tea. All others, give it a rental first.
