From what we have seen of the Farrelly Brothers, they don’t do PG-13 movies very well mainly because of the type of movies they are known for. In fact, after the hilarious There’s Something About Mary they sort of tapered off into the lackluster Jim Carrey vehicle Me, Myself, and Irene, the sometimes funny Shallow Hal, and the sometimes disgusting Say It Isn’t So, as producers. After passing on Dumb and Dumberer they resurface with a new, albeit PG-13, comedy starring two brothers who are inseparable, literally.
Bob (Matt Damon) and Walt (Greg Kinnear) are brothers who have survived through a quarter of their lives attached just above the hip. Through the years they have learned to work with each other and have everything from sleeping, working, and walking down. But when Walt decides that he would like to leave the small town of Martha’s Vineyard to pursue an acting career in Hollywood the brother leave the quaint, quiet mountain town for the busy streets of LA.
Meanwhile Cher is trying to get out of a TV contact by any means necessary. Since Walt and Bob aren’t the token actor that you look for in Hollywood, except in the porn industry which leads to one of the films better jokes, Cher casts Walt as her leading man in the film in an effort to have the network cancel the contract for the show, and freeing her. The network calls her bluff and casts Walt who becomes a big star with the show. Also, Bob finally meets up with an internet friend he has been talking to for three years, but never told he was a conjoined twin. This leads to some very funny jokes with Bob trying to explain his attachment.
Everyone who has seen a Farrelly brother’s movie knows what they are in for. There’s Something About Mary taught us what could be used as a substitute for hair gel in one of the most oft parodies sequences from a movie in the last 10 years. Me, Myself, and Irene showed us that the mentally disturbed could be funny, so what kinds of bodily fluid jokes could they pull off in the PG-13 rated Stuck on You? Apparently they are trying to climb out of the pit they dug for themselves, so not so many.
Stuck on You, when compared to every other movie the brothers have been associated with seems almost tame in comparison. Sure there is your fair share of visual jokes, and you get a few hints of the director’s pedigree comedy, but this movie has some actual emotion and character development, even though you can sort of see it coming a mile away. Where Shallow Hal failed to develop characters we could actually like, wasting a talent like Jack Black, Stuck on You interjects Bob and Walt with actually emotions. When they are finally separated towards the end of the film (that isn’t a spoiler because you see it coming from the very beginning) you actually feel for the characters. Stuck on You is probably the Farrelly brothers best film, rivaling that of the skit like Mary for a film with actual substance.
The film also provides enough cameos and jokes to make it through the daunting 128 minutes. As with most comedies the jokes taper off towards the end when the directors finally decide that it might be good to make a point in this film. Still, even with the cliché, storybook ending and plot points a blind man could see you will enjoy Stuck on You because the movie has something most of the comedies this year have lacked, a heart.