Those knuckleheads, The Three Stooges are back for lots more face-slapping, eye-poking fun. The Farrelly brothers, creators of Dumb & Dumber, have brought back the trio idiots back to the big screen.

When the film opens, a bag containing three babies is thrown onto the steps of the Sisters of Mary Orphanage. Sister Mary-Mengele (Larry David) discovers the babies and immediately calls her Mother Superior (Jane Lynch) to take them in. Cut to ten years later where Moe, Larry and Curly are already causing daily havoc in the orphanage. While Mother Superior usually hides the boys when prospective parents come to the orphanage, there’s a bit of a mutiny and the other sisters hatch a plan to try to get the three troublemakers adopted. However, this is unsuccessful. Cut to twenty-five years later, and the orphanage is now in danger of shutting down unless they can raise $830,000 in thirty days. So the Stooges finally leave to try to raise the money on their own. While canvasing the streets for odd jobs, they discover a woman (Sofía Vergara) who offers them $830,000 if they kill her dying husband.

I was really skeptical when I first heard about this film. However, I was quite impressed by the cast’s ability to really recreate the Stooges I grew up watching. Chris Diamantopoulos captures the look and attitude of the original short-fused Moe, the leader of the Stooges. Sean Hayes recreates Larry’s voice and diction perfectly. And Will Sasso does an amazing Curly–right down to the dog barks and shuffle. I also found Larry David hilarious as Sister Mary-Mengele—it’s Larry David being Larry David, but using falsetto while dressed in a habit!

The Three Stooges is also able to re-capture all of that slapstick comedy of the original shorts/films—the face slaps, eye pokes, hammers to the head, and bad puns. The film is even broken into three “episodes” to add to that feeling of the old shorts. While the movie didn’t have me constantly laughing out loud, I never really did while watching the original shorts either. The “bad” jokes were always my favorite part of the original Stooges, and this film had plenty of those. It also adds some of that great Farrelly brothers humor, and these were the moments that did have me laughing out loud—like the Stooges in a maternity ward, using peeing babies like weapons in a shootout, and the Stooges’ misunderstanding of farm-raised salmon.

Not being a fan of The Jersey Shore, I thought I was going to be disappointed by the third “episode” of the film. However, I think that show’s “actors” were integrated well, and it was great to see them bonked around like Stooges. Moe’s integration in the world of The Jersey Shore was hilarious.

I think kids as well as fans of slapstick humor and the original Stooges will really enjoy this film. However, if you couldn’t stand the original Three Stooges, I don’t think this film will change that—it’s more of the same humor.

What’s Included:

Film (1:32:04):

Blu-ray:
• Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD MA, English Descriptive Audio 5.1, Spanish DD 5.1, French DD 5.1
• English SDH, Spanish subtitles

DVD/Digital Copy:

• Audio: English 5.1 DD, English Descriptive Audio 5.1, Spanish Surround DD 2.0, French Surround DD 2.0
• English SDH, Spanish subtitles
• Digital Copy for iTunes/Android

Extras (Blu-ray Only):

• Deleted/Extended Scenes (9:29)
  A collection of eight deleted scenes, including an alternate opening.
• What’s the Big Idea? A History of The Three Stooges (10:39)
  Behind the scenes featurette with the cast and crew, talking about the origins of the film—which goes back to 1990s when The Farrely Bros had just completed Dumb & Dumber. Also talks about the history of the Stooges starting from back to the 1920s.
• Knuckleheads: Behind the Scenes of The Three Stooges (5:11)
  Behind the scenes look at some of the stunts/effects scenes from the movie.
• Did You Hear That? The Three Stooges Sound Effects (4:11)
  Featurette on the cartoony sound effects used in the film.
• Poifect! Casting The Three Stooges (9:12)
  The cast and creators discuss how the actors were able to recreate the original Stooges and their actions and mannerisms.
• The Three Stooges Mash-Up (3:10)
  A collection of scenes from the film—lots of slapping, hitting and eye-poking.
• Original Screen Test (4:06)
  Original screen test version of the scene where the Stooges brainstorm on how to raise the money they need.
• Theatrical Trailer (1:40)
• Sneak Peek
  Trailers for Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days, The Blu-ray Experience, and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Final Thoughts:

The picture on this Blu-ray was crystal clear, and I didn’t notice any trace of where special effects were added. The sound was also great—those original Stooge sound effects were seamlessly blended to add that comical feel as people were slapped, poked and hit. The bonus features provided a decent amount of behind-the-scenes information, but it would have been nice to also have an audio commentary track

Overall, I found the film surprisingly entertaining. While I don’t think it will turn anyone who really doesn’t like the Stooges style of comedy, this is an easy recommendation for kids and fans of The Stooges.