Since making the comedy of the 1990s in "There's Something About Mary", Bobby and Peter Farrelly have produced gentler fare for themselves and the greater Rhode Island area, sticking in just enough gross-out humor to deflect the "they-got-soft" buzz. But they have been getting softer, and not in a good way. Take "Stuck On You".
It's the story of Bob (Matt Damon) and Walt Tenor (Greg Kinnear), conjoined twins remaking their lives when extroverted Walt pursues his acting dreams in Hollywood and introverted Bobby must go along for the ride. Walt finds sudden success while Bobby meets his dream girl, but will their new lives break up this inseparable pair?
Acceptance is the overriding message of this film, and it's a nice message for a film that offers little else. At least I know better than to use the term "Siamese twins" now. Damon and Kinnear display nice chemistry, and I chuckled a couple of times.
But the Farrellys seem more interested in displaying their humanity than making a funny film. Bob and Walt emote a lot about their hopes and dreams while everyone who ever sold the Farrellys a pizza is wedged into the background as an extra. You can feel them strain to hit the "feel-good" buttons and the punchlines.
Alas, someone forgot the hair gel this time. The toothless gags play off the brothers' conjoined situation, but avoid any meanness. Instead it unrealistically tries to play off their situation as no big deal to anyone with half a heart. Like when Walt tells Bob of this hot woman he had drinks with the other night, only "I couldn't get her alone. She had that friend Ruthie with her like a freakin' shadow." They flip burgers and tend goal in a hockey game: "I had 11 saves and Bob had 26".
The supporting cast is lackluster, not helped by a script that presents them as backboards for the brothers' banter or the fact that for so many of them, the casting call was the last Farrelly family barbecue. Seymour Cassell as an old agent wears a silly wig, while Cher sends herself up as Walt's unhappy co-star on a TV detective show.
I liked isolated scenes, more in the beginning than in the mawkish and excessive second half when the twins cope with sudden success. There's a good scene early on when Walt is scoring with a girl while Bob on the other side of a shower curtain types an e-mail to his pen pal, unfazed by the fact his brother's activity keeps him bouncing up and down. Between positions, Walt tries to sneak a peak at his brother's e-mail. "It's personal," Bob says, pulling it away.
That's a nice moment about boundaries, and enough of it shows up now and then for the film to not be a complete drag. You do care about the pair. Damon is good as shy Bob, while Kinnear impresses me, as he did with "Auto Focus", by getting the most out of lame dialogue with a raised eyebrow.
Then he has to go and do one of his dead-on Ted Koppell impersonations, reminding you you are really watching a pair of actors strapped to a flesh-tone prosthetic. "Stuck On You" is not a bad idea for a comedy; it's just weakly delivered by a pair of brothers who themselves may have been stuck together too long.
It's the story of Bob (Matt Damon) and Walt Tenor (Greg Kinnear), conjoined twins remaking their lives when extroverted Walt pursues his acting dreams in Hollywood and introverted Bobby must go along for the ride. Walt finds sudden success while Bobby meets his dream girl, but will their new lives break up this inseparable pair?
Acceptance is the overriding message of this film, and it's a nice message for a film that offers little else. At least I know better than to use the term "Siamese twins" now. Damon and Kinnear display nice chemistry, and I chuckled a couple of times.
But the Farrellys seem more interested in displaying their humanity than making a funny film. Bob and Walt emote a lot about their hopes and dreams while everyone who ever sold the Farrellys a pizza is wedged into the background as an extra. You can feel them strain to hit the "feel-good" buttons and the punchlines.
Alas, someone forgot the hair gel this time. The toothless gags play off the brothers' conjoined situation, but avoid any meanness. Instead it unrealistically tries to play off their situation as no big deal to anyone with half a heart. Like when Walt tells Bob of this hot woman he had drinks with the other night, only "I couldn't get her alone. She had that friend Ruthie with her like a freakin' shadow." They flip burgers and tend goal in a hockey game: "I had 11 saves and Bob had 26".
The supporting cast is lackluster, not helped by a script that presents them as backboards for the brothers' banter or the fact that for so many of them, the casting call was the last Farrelly family barbecue. Seymour Cassell as an old agent wears a silly wig, while Cher sends herself up as Walt's unhappy co-star on a TV detective show.
I liked isolated scenes, more in the beginning than in the mawkish and excessive second half when the twins cope with sudden success. There's a good scene early on when Walt is scoring with a girl while Bob on the other side of a shower curtain types an e-mail to his pen pal, unfazed by the fact his brother's activity keeps him bouncing up and down. Between positions, Walt tries to sneak a peak at his brother's e-mail. "It's personal," Bob says, pulling it away.
That's a nice moment about boundaries, and enough of it shows up now and then for the film to not be a complete drag. You do care about the pair. Damon is good as shy Bob, while Kinnear impresses me, as he did with "Auto Focus", by getting the most out of lame dialogue with a raised eyebrow.
Then he has to go and do one of his dead-on Ted Koppell impersonations, reminding you you are really watching a pair of actors strapped to a flesh-tone prosthetic. "Stuck On You" is not a bad idea for a comedy; it's just weakly delivered by a pair of brothers who themselves may have been stuck together too long.