Stuck on You (2004, VHS)

As far as directors go the Farrelly brothers always seemed to create films that fell into the love 'em or hate 'em area. Their unashamedly bad taste has resulted in films that were both obscenely offensive and absolutely hilarious, for the same reasons. Your point of view simply came down to how offensive you found them. However lately; it all started with Shallow Hal, they have been making films that are becoming less bad taste and more sweet natured. Their film Stuck On You falls into the same area, and as a result falls into the same area of like, not love, that defined Shallow Hal.

Stuck On You actually has the best concept for their own unique brand of humour. It's the story of 2 conjoined twins; Bob and Walt, who have managed to make a successful life for themselves in their small town home. However Walt has higher plans; he wants to become a real actor and make films in Hollywood. So the 2 of them move to L.A where they meet with nothing but rejection until a bitter Cher spots them and decides that they would be the perfect way to sink this series that she's contractually obliged to take part in.

It's just that the brothers fail to make real use of the material. Even for me; one of the people who really hated the Farrelly's most popular films for taking the taste down to low, the sweeter natured humour that permeates Stuck On You is just not often funny. Sure, there are moments when the Farrelly's genius for ignoring political correctness shines through, and these times are handled extremely well, without becoming offensive. You can pretty much guarantee that any scene involving jogging and sport will be funny, and you look forward to the sight of Mat Damon in a raincoat as his brother showers. These are moments that; while not really making fun of anybody, would still have certain people up in arms over how the subject is being treated as seriously as it should be. It makes for a fresh change of pace to find a film that is prepared to make these jokes and be funny, as opposed to treading on the eggshells that peoples egos represent. The film is at it's funniest when making fun of Cher though. Particularly in her fixation with younger men, and the celebrity they get in to play her new boyfriend.

It's just a shame that these moments are actually few and far between, and the majority of the film takes itself far too seriously. There's an overused relationship between Bob and his girlfriend May that slows down the film to one big sentimental drawl, and that takes up more running time that all of the other plot strands combined. It's like the old adage says, when they are not being sick the Farrelly's are just not all that funny. There sentimental side is just not real enough to make for a worthwhile feature. It works when hidden away inside the bad taste because it adds feeling, but on it's own it just doesn't work.

Still at least the film has seen some talent in front of the cameras. The easy going chemistry shared by Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear makes for an endearing pair of lead characters. As they work off of each other; heightening their already natural skills, you begin to find yourself drawn into even a few of the slower moments. Backing them up though is a talented cast of comedians both old and new. Eva Mendes should definitely stick to comedy, the actress so bland in 2 Fast 2 Furious manages to bimbo herself up to perfection as the bubbly wannabe actress April. Seymour Cassel's performance as Walt's agent was inspired; he was simply brimming over with energy as he zipped about in his wheelchair making plans, or calling forth a retreat. Yet my absolute favorite was easily Cher who has proven herself to have a great sense of humour. She's playing herself; which is always easy, but is playing herself as an egotistical, vindictive little bitch, and managing to portray it perfectly. Her villainy is so perfectly over played that if she was a man you just know she'd be twiddling her handlebar mustache. She just has this naturalness to her performance even when she's blatantly making fun of herself. Just look at the scene where she tells her boyfriend to go to sleep because he has a history test the next day; there's no disgust in her voice, no annoyance, but she does come across as if there's nothing extraordinary about the situation and is all the funnier for it; kind of worrying actually. I was a little disappointed by the young actress Wen Yann Shih though. It's not that she's bad; far from it, it's just that she isn't given much to really work with. She is involved in very few belly laughs; in fact her section was basically pure drama, and I never felt that her emotional performance was anything above average.

That's the film for you though. It's not bad it's just not given that much to do. It has some great belly laughs placed intermittently, and is fun throughout. However it is never anything more than that, just fun, plain old average fun. Unlike their previous films Stuck On You is a film that you could easily just like; without loving or hating it in any way.

Image and Sound: They haven't really gone to town in the audio department. It's not too bad; in fact it's all pretty much good stuff, it just doesn't make full use of the 5.1 transfer even as far as comedies are concerned. It would have just as effective in mono but would have perhaps freed up some space for something clearer. Again, it's not that it's muffled or anything, it just doesn't sound as good as the crystal clear that I have come to expect from DVD.

It was better visually. The transfer was very clean and managed to get through the film without so much of a hint of grain. If I was to be picky I'd say that the colours are not all that vibrant, some of the brighter costumes don't really stand out from the darker suits, However that was just me looking for something to pick up on, and on the whole you can expect a DVD transfer that captures everything from the darkest black suit through to the most colorful locations, with a clarity almost unheard of for a comedy DVD.

The Extras: On booting up the disk I found myself presented with the traditional menu screen, but this time there were 2 special features options. The first one; "Inside Look" was a duel featurette thin looking into two upcoming Fox movies. Both were a little rushed but the first part; the AVP feature, was a little interesting. I showed the models that would be used for a few of the shots on both the Alien and the Predator and it looked very impressive. I was a little concerned by the description that the main gun came in big sizes; the Big gun for your general all round destruction, and the bigger for; well. Needless to say I wasn't expecting much more than that from Anderson and this feature is making his film look like a very technically proficient action adventure. The other was for the movie Dodgeball; a film that I hadn't really heard of, and would not have known it was advertising a film if it wasn't for Vince Vaugn. A mocumentary that is too OTT for its own good.

Deleted Scenes-"Walt And Bob Get Their Photo Taken" is a scene set straight after the duo arrive in the big city and are given a chance to display their idiocy as they are ripped off by some street punk. "Bob & May At The Drive In" is just more of the two in the car as she explains to Greg about her Tuna Fish collection. "Pavlov's Dong" is simply an extension of the porn film sequence. Bob wins at tennis is exactly what it says; conjoined twins playing singles tennis. "Cher Has A Scoop" is simply Cher on the phone and not having her name recognized. "Busted" is more of them being busted for drunk driving. "Table For One" sees Gregg ordering a meal but not really being able to handle separation and so trying to talk to thin air. I was originally going to leave a comment on each scene until I realized that they were all slow, predicable and just not very funny. They vary in terms of suckines; from bad to painful, but overall my comments are the same on each of them. The final scene is quite good though, "Fishing" sees the brothers talking after the separation and Bob explaining his feelings. Ultimately it would probably have been too much in the context of everything you already see at the end of the film, but on its own it's quite enjoyable.

It's Funny: The Farrelly Formula- is not too bad a feature, but then, it's nothing special either. Basically you have a variety of the actors who have worked with these brothers discussing what makes there films great. Now the trouble with the Farrelly's is that with any one of their films you could either love it or hate it, and those who love it already know what makes them so great.

Stuck Together: Bringing "Stuck On You" To The Screen-is actually surprisingly good. It's one of those pre release features that does go a little further; going right back to before the film was released and the troubles it had getting there. Cher gets a fair amount of time in this one and has enough charisma to keep the feature afloat, proving that she is a lot more fun that she portrayed herself in the film.

Making It Stick: The Makeup Effects Of "Stuck On You"-was probably the best extra on the disk. Watching the film you really don't get the full effect as to how much commitment these 2 actors had. As a result this documentary, that looks into every detail of the makeup effects, and more importantly how the actors felt about them. This was not just some superficial effect, these 2 really had to be stuck together during the shooting, and because of the elaborate makeup effects wouldn't be able to separate when going to the toilette and stuff. It's the same complaints you get from any film that involves make up and costumes, but then 2 guys going the toilette together is much more unpleasant than going to the toilette in a tight rubber suit.

Blooper Reel-More messing about, forgetting lines and falling over at inopportune moments.

Commentary: There is a commentary by the Brothers but I have to admit to hating it. Obviously this is not a film that would rely on technical information and talk about themes, so I was hoping for a little banter filled fun. Instead you end up with 2 brothers naming every single extra that shows up and then getting involved in small talk about the weather.

Final Words: I liked this film. It's sweet natured and has a few amusing moments. However it's never really laugh out loud, but has been treated to a solid, well rounded DVD.