Review of Stuck on You (2003) by Harry W — 28 Sep 2016

Hoping that The Farrellly Brothers would be capable of making an entertaining comedy out of a conjoined twins concept, Stuck on You sounded like an entertaining diversion.

Although Stuck on You was not the most consistently funny comedy, Stuck on You did manage to supply plenty of laughs to make it a good comedy. It wasn't perfect and was not up to their best works, but considering the ridiculous nature of the plot in Stuck on You, they managed to give it direction which made it out to be a funny and meaningful film.

Stuck on You is a strictly Farrelly Brothers fare, and they prove to be the ideal duo of directors for this film because while there is less gross out humour this time around, they put a lot of sight gags into the fact that the main characters are conjoined twins. There is plenty of sight gags which shows the two leading actors working together really well as well as a script which plays on a lot of clever anecdotes relating to the same concept. While there is perhaps more focus on the dialogue than on the physical gags of the film, the important factor is that Stuck on You is still a funny film. It's kind of hard to decide between taking the film seriously or looking at it as one big joke due to an inconsistent tone and a pretty ridiculous premise, but either way it is easily enjoyable simply due to the fact that there is a meaningful message in the subtext of the film. Thanks to pairing up the Farrelly Brothers' skilful comic direction with their own firm script, it comes off as an original idea. Even though it is imperfect and is not as consistently funny as a film about conjoined twins trying to succeed in an acting career should be, it manages to supply enough laughs and clever anecdotes to justify its existence. The film is clever because it manages to poke fun at the Hollywood industry in parts as well, so the script is part satirical. In short, the screenplay in Stuck on You manages to make the film a lot funnier than it could have been, even if the shortage of gross out gags may not satisfy fans of Peter and Robert Farrelly as much as other films have in the past. This time, it has them balancing jokes with a meaningful premise, and for what it's worth they succeed most of the time. The story ends up being rather cliche and has a less than stellar ending, but if you can look beyond that and appreciate the comedic virtues of the film more than Stuck on You is likely to entertain you.

Stuck on You also makes use of some really nice locations which easily establish the setting for the film and gives a lot of colour to the backdrop as well. It is also captured with strong cinematography which manages to always capture everything from the correct angle and ensure that the best aspects of the visual gags remain firmly in the visual plane.

But when you get right down to it, it is the cast of Stuck on You that manages to carry the film consistently from start to finish.

The thing which really makes the film good is the duo of Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear. With both of them confined to acting attached to each other, they manage to play a lot of visual gags off the situation. But more importantly, they manage to make themselves a likable duo since unlike most comedy films there is two funny guys, not one likable man and one unlikable. They share a good brotherly chemistry and have plenty of funny physical interactions with the surrounding cast and the situations, but more importantly they are both consistently easily able to achieve laughs with their line delivery. Matt Damon gives potentially the funniest performance of his career because the role is so different from the kind that I am accustomed to seeing him in, and Greg Kinnear once again manages to probe himself able to work in a comic role very easily. The charismatic talents of these cast members are paired together in Stuck on You, and under the firm direction of the Farrelly Brothers, it is no surprise that they are able to pull it off. Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear make themselves a pretty hilarious duo in Stuck on You, and working with each other very easily they are able to successfully harness the comic atmosphere of the film.

Cher's self-satirical role is also pretty funny because of how she really plays an egotistical version of herself. It is always funny to see a high profile actor parodying themselves if the material is strong enough, and thanks to the script in Stuck on You she manages to pull off one of her funniest performances in years. Cher manages to make herself a good supporting presence in Stuck on You simply because she puts natural comic charm into the part. Her line delivery is sharp, so she makes herself a funny presence in Stuck on You.

Eva Mendes also makes a nice supporting presence because she has a likable persona and the film plays off her sex appeal to a subtle but effective extent as well. Her chemistry with the other cast members, specifically with Greg Kinnear proves to assist the story in its general progression.

The cameo of Meryl Streep was hilarious because it is rare that she pops up in such silly comedies and so when she does it this time it is a nice surprise. Frankie Muniz's random cameo was pretty funny as well.

So despite Stuck on You having quite a few cliches riding the script and not as much raunchy humour as The Farrelly Brothers are usually more familiar with, Stuck on You is a surprisingly meaningful and easy to watch comedy which takes advantage of its premise well and is able to get some hilarious performances out of both Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear in a dual role.