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Todd McCarthy of ''[[The Hollywood Reporter]]'' described it as "[A] funny, good-hearted resuscitation of Hollywood's beloved lowbrow lunkheads",<ref name="rotten-tomatoes" /> and [[Manohla Dargis]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' similarly characterly enjoyable paean to Moe, Larry and Curly and the art of the eye poke."<ref>{{cite news | url = http://movies.nytimes.com/2012/04/13/movies/the-three-stooges-from-peter-and-bobby-farrelly.html | title = Wry and Subtle Jesting? Not Here, Knucklehead | author = Manohla Dargis | authorlink = Manohla Dargis | date = April 12, 2012 | work = [[The New York Times]] }}</ref> [[Spill.com]] gave the movie a fairly good review, insisting that the movie is great for families, and hardcore Stooge-fans will not be disappointed. They also went on to praise the actors for their portrayal of the Stooges, saying the likeness was uncanny, and perhaps even Oscar-worthy. [[Roger Ebert]] gave the movie 2 and 1/2 stars out of 4, stating "The Farrelly brothers have made probably the best Three Stooges movie it's possible to make in 2012, and perhaps ever since the Stooges stopped making them themselves".
Todd McCarthy of ''[[The Hollywood Reporter]]'' described it as "[A] funny, good-hearted resuscitation of Hollywood's beloved lowbrow lunkheads",<ref name="rotten-tomatoes" /> and [[Manohla Dargis]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' similarly characterly enjoyable paean to Moe, Larry and Curly and the art of the eye poke."<ref>{{cite news | url = http://movies.nytimes.com/2012/04/13/movies/the-three-stooges-from-peter-and-bobby-farrelly.html | title = Wry and Subtle Jesting? Not Here, Knucklehead | author = Manohla Dargis | authorlink = Manohla Dargis | date = April 12, 2012 | work = [[The New York Times]] }}</ref> [[Spill.com]] gave the movie a fairly good review, insisting that the movie is great for families, and hardcore Stooge-fans will not be disappointed. They also went on to praise the actors for their portrayal of the Stooges, saying the likeness was uncanny, and perhaps even Oscar-worthy. [[Roger Ebert]] gave the movie 2 and 1/2 stars out of 4, stating "The Farrelly brothers have made probably the best Three Stooges movie it's possible to make in 2012, and perhaps ever since the Stooges stopped making them themselves".

Bill Wine of KYW Newsradio 1060 in Philadelphia commented that "no one’s going to confuse ''The Three Stooges'' with a transcendent movie anytime soon, but the Farrellys do capture and reproduce the anarchic spirit and uninhibited essence of the Stooges — soitenly and poifectly, as the Stooges would put it — and remind us why they had such a hold on some of us in decades past. The three leads are expert mimics — especially Hayes, best known for TV’s “Will & Grace.” They acquit themselves admirably..."<ref>{{cite news | url = http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2012/04/18/movie-review-the-three-stooges/ | title = Movie Review: ''The Three Stooges'' | author = Bill Wine | authorlink = Bill Wine | date = April 18, 2012 | work = [[CBS PhillyThe New York Times]]}}</ref>


===Box office===
===Box office===

Revision as of 19:03, 30 April 2012

The Three Stooges
Theatrical release poster
Directed byFarrelly brothers
Written byMike Cerrone
Farrelly brothers
Produced byFarrelly brothers
Bradley Thomas
Charles B. Wessler
StarringChris Diamantopoulos
Sean Hayes
Will Sasso
CinematographyMatthew F. Leonetti
Music byJohn Debney
Production
companies
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release date
  • April 13, 2012 (2012-04-13)
[1]
Running time
92 min
CountryTemplate:Film US
LanguageEnglish
Budget$30 million
Box office$37,141,000[2]

The Three Stooges is a 2012 American slapstick comedy film based on the early to mid-20th century shorts by the comedic trio The Three Stooges. The movie was produced, written and directed by the Farrelly brothers and co-written by Mike Cerrone, and stars Sean Hayes, Will Sasso, and Chris Diamantopoulos, recreating the eponymous characters played by Larry Fine, Curly Howard, and Moe Howard. The film's story places the Stooges in a modern setting.

After over a decade of casting problems, principal photography took place from May to July 2011. The film was released on April 13, 2012, and is rated PG in the US (for slapstick action violence, some rude and suggestive humor including language) by the MPAA rating system.

Plot

The movie is composed of three acts, which are referred to as episodes.

Act/Episode 1: More Orphan Than Not

Ever since Moe (Chris Diamantopoulos), Larry (Sean Hayes), and Curly (Will Sasso) were dumped on the doorstep of the Sisters of Mercy Orphanage, they have wreaked havoc on the place and have left the nuns there scared. Out of desperation, when a prospective couple comes to adopt, they bring out the trio as being the only three available, eventually adding a fourth when another boy, Teddy, enters the picture. The couple decides to pick Moe, but when he requests Larry and Curly join him, he is dropped back off at the orphanage, and they choose Teddy instead. Twenty-five years later, the trio is still living there and attempting to help out, and taking care of the kids as well. When they get wind the orphanage will be shutting down unless they can come up with $830,000 in 30 days, the trio volunteers to go out and try to raise the money somehow.

Act/Episode 2: The Bananas Split

A subplot involves a woman named Lydia, who wants to kill her husband so she can be with her lover and inherit his considerable fortune. She offers to pay the trio the money they need to take care of the job. However, they botch the job and leave the supposed husband (actually Lydia's lover) in traction in the hospital. When they try to visit to finish the job, they are chased throughout the hospital and escape by jumping off the roof using a fire hose. They end up running into a now grown-up Teddy from the orphanage, who invites them to his anniversary party. It turns out that Lydia is Teddy's wife. Their next scheme for raising the money has them selling farm raised salmon, with them scattering salmon on a golf range and watering them like produce. The trio are chased off the golf course and hide somewhere, where they have a huge argument and slapstick fight, and Larry and Curly leave. After they do so, it turns out they were all on stage in front of an audition crew, who select Moe to be the newest cast member of Jersey Shore as "Dyna-Moe".

Final Act/Episode: No Moe Mister Nice Guy

Larry and Curly are getting along well without Moe but decide to go find him, first returning to the orphanage, where they find out a girl named Murph is very sick, but hasn't been taken to the hospital because the orphanage has no medical insurance. It turns out that no one will insure the orphanage due to the trio's numerous accidents and injuries, and the $830K is needed in order to have it reinstated.

They finally go to the set of Jersey Shore to reunite with Moe, and they all head to the anniversary party where they appear to thwart the murder plot, only to discover Teddy’s adoptive father, a powerful attorney, was the real mastermind. He married into the money and was incensed to find out the money was left to Teddy and not him when Teddy's mother died years earlier. They are taken for a ride, but the car winds up in the water when Curly’s pet rat distracts them; then, they all escape when Curly passes gas, and they light it with “waterproof, strike-anywhere matches” they had, causing enough of an explosion to blow out the windows.

Once they are back on land, Lydia, her lover, and Teddy's adoptive dad are arrested, and Teddy thanks the trio for saving him. When they request the $830K, he turns them down, stating he refuses to help the same orphanage that gave him up to a father that almost tried to kill him, among other things over the years.

Three months later, the trio return to the now-condemned orphanage, but as they start crying for feeling like failures, they hear kids laughing and swimming and such. When they investigate, they find out a whole brand new orphanage was built next door, complete with a swimming pool and tennis court.

They soon learn that the money Moe made from Jersey Shore has helped pay off the $830K and, along with contributions from the cast of Jersey Shore, help to put the down payment on the new place. The executive that got Moe on Jersey Shore has also offered the entire trio a contract for a new show called “Nuns vs Nitwits”. Murph is revealed to be perfectly fine, her illness due to too much iron in the water (which Larry had always suspected, yet no one listened to him), and that she, along with brothers Peezer and Weezer (the latter thought to have been lost forever to a foster home), will be adopted by Teddy and his new wife. In the end, after causing one more incident, the trio run away and bounce off trampolines out of the orphanage onto horses, where they ride off away from the orphanage.

A postscript consists of two young, handsome, muscular actors playing the Farrelly brothers, explaining that the stunts were all done by professionals, showing the foam rubber props used in the film for the trio to hit one another, demonstrating the fake eye-poke trick (to the temples), and advising children to not try any of the stunts at home.

Cast

Production

Development and writing

Conundrum Entertainment's Bradley Thomas became attached to The Three Stooges around 2000 with Columbia Pictures. In March 2001, Warner Bros. bought the feature rights from C3 Entertainment and Peter and Bobby Farrelly became involved.[10] They along with co-writer Mike Cerrone completed the script in mid-to-late 2002 and began shopping it. In 2004, with no talent being attached to the project, their rights expired and it was acquired by First Look Studios and C3 Entertainment.[11] In November 2008, MGM boss Mary Parent picked up The Farrelly's Warner Bros. scripts and the rights from C3 Entertainment, and was given a budget of $40 million with a release date of November 20, 2009.[11] In March 2009, after struggling with casting delays, the release date was pushed to 2010, but the filmmakers still did not have a cast set.[11] In November 2010, MGM filed bankruptcy and the following month the project was taken over by 20th Century Fox in hopes to have released the film on March 14, 2011.[11][12]

The Farrellys said that they were not going to do a biopic or remake, but instead new Three Stooges episodes set in the present day. The film will be divided into three segments with a stand-alone story, each being 27 minutes long.[13] The Farrelly's aim to receive a PG (Parental Guidance) rating from the MPAA, while still incorporating physical comedy. The Farrellys have also said it would have "non-stop slapping, more in the tone of Dumb and Dumber than we've done. Our goal is 85 minutes of laughs in a film that will be very respectful of who the Stooges were. It's by far the riskiest project we've ever done, without question, but it is also the one closest to our hearts."[14]

Casting

In March 2009, Benicio del Toro was in talks to play the lead role of Moe Howard,[15] but then later dropped out. He was replaced by Chris Diamantopoulos in April 2011.[16] Hank Azaria was considered for the part.[14][17] Sean Penn was already set to play Larry Fine but dropped out to concentrate on his charitable efforts in Haiti.[17] Sean Hayes was chosen to play Larry. Jim Carrey was set to play Curly Howard and gained 40 pounds for the role but ultimately dropped out because of not wanting to endanger his health gaining 60 to 70 pounds.[17][18] The role went to Will Sasso.[19] Johnny Knoxville, Andy Samberg and Shane Jacobson were all on the short list to play Moe, Larry and Curly, respectively. Bill Chott also auditioned for the role of Curly.[20]

In December 2010, Richard Jenkins was in talks to play Mother Superior in the film.[11] In February 2011, Cher was considered[17] but Jane Lynch secured the role.[3] Larry David plays another nun in the film called Mother Mengele.[4] Sofía Vergara was cast as Lydia. Stephen Collins was cast as Mr. Harter[6] and Carly Craig as his wife, Mrs. Harter.[7] The cast of Jersey Shore (Nicole Polizzi, Michael Sorrentino, Paul DelVechhio, Jennifer Farley, and Ronnie Ortiz-Magro) have cameos in the film.[21][22]

Filming

On a reported budget of $30 million,[6] principal photography started on May 9, 2011, in downtown Atlanta, Georgia and wrapped on July 20, 2011.[22][23] Scenes were shot at the Fairlie-Poplar Historic District around 5 Points Sports Building on the corner of Peachtree St., Edgewood Ave., and Decatur St. on the evening and night of May 13 and wrapped the next day.[23] On May 26, filming took place at Stone Mountain Park in Atlanta.[6] Other locations included Piedmont Park and Colony Square.[24] In June, production moved to Cartersville and shot scenes near Woodland High School.[25] After the cast of the Jersey Shore arrived on July 18, 2011, they shot scenes at the Atlanta Civic Center.[21] During the last two days of filming, scenes were shot at an Ansley Park home.[24] Filming concluded on July 22, 2011, at the Miami Seaquarium, a popular marine life park in Florida, capturing a scene in their dolphin tank.[26]

Appearance on WWE Raw

Diamantopoulos, Hayes and Sasso appeared in character on Wrestling show WWE Raw to promote the movie on April 9, 2012. They acted in several scenes, the first with Santino Marella, before later taking to the ring where they were booed by a somewhat perpelexed crowd before Sasso, dressed as Hulk Hogan, received a chokeslam by Kane. [27]

Reception

Critical reception

Reviews for the film have been mixed. As of April 19, 2012, the film garnered a score of 55 out of 100 based on 25 critics indicating "mixed or average reviews" on Metacritic[28] and currently holds a 48% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and the 'Top Critics' currently holds a 50% rating. Audience reception was more positive, currently holding a 67%. Despite the mixed reviews, Diamantopoulos, Hayes, and Sasso received acclaim for their performances of Moe, Larry, and Curly from critics and Stooges fans.[29]

Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter described it as "[A] funny, good-hearted resuscitation of Hollywood's beloved lowbrow lunkheads",[29] and Manohla Dargis of The New York Times similarly characterly enjoyable paean to Moe, Larry and Curly and the art of the eye poke."[30] Spill.com gave the movie a fairly good review, insisting that the movie is great for families, and hardcore Stooge-fans will not be disappointed. They also went on to praise the actors for their portrayal of the Stooges, saying the likeness was uncanny, and perhaps even Oscar-worthy. Roger Ebert gave the movie 2 and 1/2 stars out of 4, stating "The Farrelly brothers have made probably the best Three Stooges movie it's possible to make in 2012, and perhaps ever since the Stooges stopped making them themselves".

Bill Wine of KYW Newsradio 1060 in Philadelphia commented that "no one’s going to confuse The Three Stooges with a transcendent movie anytime soon, but the Farrellys do capture and reproduce the anarchic spirit and uninhibited essence of the Stooges — soitenly and poifectly, as the Stooges would put it — and remind us why they had such a hold on some of us in decades past. The three leads are expert mimics — especially Hayes, best known for TV’s “Will & Grace.” They acquit themselves admirably..."[31]

Box office

As of April 29, 2012, the film has grossed an estimated $37,141,000 in the United States and Canada, surpassing its budget.

References

  1. ^ Schutte, Lauren (September 9, 2011). "'The Three Stooges' Gets A Release Date". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 12, 2011.
  2. ^ "The Three Stooges (2012)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved April 29, 2012.
  3. ^ a b Fleming, Mike (April 27, 2011). "'Three Stooges' Find Head Nun In 'Glee's Jane Lynch". Deadline.com. Retrieved May 28, 2011.
  4. ^ a b Fleming (May 2, 2011). "Larry David Joins 'Three Stooges' In Mother Mengele Role". Deadline.com. Retrieved May 28, 2011.
  5. ^ Fleming, Mike (June 1, 2011). "Jennifer Hudson Joins 'The Three Stooges'". Deadline.com. Retrieved June 3, 2011.
  6. ^ a b c d Fitzmaurice, Sarah (May 26, 2011). "Hello Mrs Harter! Sofia Vergara sizzles on set of the Three Stooges remake". Daily Mail. Retrieved May 28, 2011.
  7. ^ a b Sneider (June 7, 2011). "Carly Craig joins 'Three Stooges'". Variety. Reed Business Information. Retrieved June 8, 2011.
  8. ^ "Craig Bierko Joins 'The Three Stooges'". Deadline.com. May 12, 2011. Retrieved May 28, 2011.
  9. ^ . threestooges.com. May 20, 2011 http://www.threestooges.com/movie/. Retrieved May 21, 2011. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  10. ^ Sneider, Jeff (December 2, 2010). "Fox to Start Production on 'Three Stooges' Movie in March". The Wrap. Retrieved May 28, 2011.
  11. ^ a b c d e VanAirsdale, S.T. (April 5, 2010). "Larry, Curly and Woe: A Brief History of Casting the Three Stooges Revival". Movieline. Retrieved May 28, 2011.
  12. ^ Fleming, Mike (December 2, 2010). "Fox Sets March 14 Start For 'The Three Stooges'". Deadline.com. Retrieved May 28, 2011.
  13. ^ Breznican, Anthony (January 7, 2011). "'Three Stooges' exclusive: Director Peter Farrelly slaps down casting rumors, spills plot details". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. Retrieved May 28, 2011.
  14. ^ a b Fleming, Mike (March 25, 2011). "'Three Stooges' Cast Update: Hank Azaria & James Marsden To Join Will Sasso?". Deadline.com. Retrieved May 28, 2011.
  15. ^ Fleming, Michael (March 25, 2009). "MGM gets its 'Three Stooges'". Variety. Reed Business Information. Retrieved May 28, 2011.
  16. ^ Sneider, Jeff (April 25, 2011). "Diamantopoulos frontrunner for Moe in 'Stooges'". Variety. Reed Business Information. Retrieved May 28, 2011.
  17. ^ a b c d Zeitchik, Steven (February 16, 2011). "The Three Stooges: Cher as a nun? And Benicio del Toro's not out". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Company. Retrieved May 28, 2011.
  18. ^ Ditzian, Eric (November 10, 2010). "'Three Stooges' Film Is 'Dead' For Jim Carrey". MTV.com. Retrieved May 28, 2011.
  19. ^ Breznican, Anthony (March 25, 2011). "'Three Stooges' has its Curly: Will Sasso cast in knucklehead update -- EXCLUSIVE". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. Retrieved May 28, 2011.
  20. ^ Sneider, Jeff (December). "Exclusive: Knoxville & Samberg on 'Three Stooges' Shortlist". The Wrap. Retrieved May 28, 2011. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  21. ^ a b Brett, Jennifer (July 18, 2011). "Fist pump! The Jersey Shore kids are here". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Cox Enterprises. Retrieved July 18, 2011.
  22. ^ a b Brett, Jennifer (July 20, 2011). "J-Lo/Cameron Diaz movie starts filming, "Three Stooges" winds down". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Cox Enterprises. Retrieved July 22, 2011.
  23. ^ a b "Filming at 5 Points Sports Building - Downtown Atlanta/Fairlie Poplar District" (PDF). atlantadowntown.com. April 28, 2011. Retrieved May 28, 2011.
  24. ^ a b Frederick, Kori (July 20, 2011). "'Three Stooges' Wraps Up Filming in Atlanta". Patch Media. Retrieved July 23, 2011.
  25. ^ Brett, Jennifer (June 29, 2011). "6/30 Peach Buzz: Action! Filming updates both ITP and OTP". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Cox Enterprises. Retrieved June 30, 2011.
  26. ^ "The Three Stooges film (2012)", Covering Media
  27. ^ http://screencrave.com/2012-04-10/votd-the-new-three-stooges-visit-wwe-raw-get-booed-and-are-incredibly-awkward-and-unfunny/
  28. ^ The Three Stooges at Metacritic
  29. ^ a b The Three Stooges at Rotten Tomatoes
  30. ^ Manohla Dargis (April 12, 2012). "Wry and Subtle Jesting? Not Here, Knucklehead". The New York Times.
  31. ^ Bill Wine (April 18, 2012). "Movie Review: The Three Stooges". CBS PhillyThe New York Times.
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