Starsky & Hutch (film)

Infobox Film
name = Starsky & Hutch


caption = International poster
director = Todd Phillips
writer = Scot Armstrong
John O'Brien
Todd Phillips
Stevie Long
starring = Ben Stiller
Owen Wilson
Vince Vaughn
Juliette Lewis
Snoop Dogg
producer = Akiva Goldsman
Stuart Cornfeld
William Blinn
Tony Ludwig
Alan Riche
music = Theodore Shapiro
released = March 5, 2004
editing = Leslie Jones
cinematography = Barry Peterson
distributor = Warner Bros. Pictures (North America)
Buena Vista International/Dimension Films (International)
runtime = 101 minutes
language = English
budget = US$60 million
gross = US$170.3 ,illion
amg_id =
imdb_id = 335438

"Starsky & Hutch" is a 2004 American comedy/action film directed by Todd Phillips, director of Old School and Road Trip. The film stars Ben Stiller as David Starsky and Owen Wilson as Ken "Hutch" Hutchinson and is a spoof film adaptation of the original television series of the same name from the 1970s.

Two streetwise undercover cops in 1975, driving in a red 1974 Ford Gran Torino, bust drug criminals with the help of underworld player, Huggy Bear. The movie functions as a sort of prequel to the TV series, as it portrays when Starsky was first partnered with Hutchinson.

The movie also switches the personalities of the title characters. While in the TV show, Starsky was curious, laid-back, and streetwise, and Hutch was very serious and by-the-book. In the movie, Starsky is the serious cop, and Hutch is laid-back.

There are four Frat Pack members in this movie, although not all major roles.

Primary cast

*Ben Stiller – David Starsky
*Owen Wilson – Ken "Hutch" Hutchinson
*Snoop Dogg – Huggy Bear Brown
*Vince Vaughn – Reese Feldman
*Fred Williamson – Captain Doby
*Juliette Lewis – Kitty
*Jason Bateman – Kevin
*Amy Smart – Holly
*Carmen Electra – Stacey
*Will Ferrell – Big Earl (uncredited)
*George Cheung – Chau
*Chris Penn – Manetti
*Brande Roderick – Heather
*Jeffrey Lorenzo – Willis
*Har Mar Superstar – Dancing Rick
*Patton Oswalt – Disco DJ
*Paul Michael Glaser – Original Starsky
*David Soul – Original Hutch

Plot

David Starsky (Ben Stiller) is a loudmouth, wannabe macho cop who is paired with the cool, easy going Ken 'Hutch' Hutchinson (Owen Wilson). The two are wary of each other in the beginning.

Drug kingpin Reese Feldman (Vince Vaughn) and his partner-in-crime Kevin (Jason Bateman) are planning to bring in a shipment of a 'motherload' of drugs worth millions of dollars. They have developed a new type of cocaine which is untraceable. Earlier, Feldman shot one of his drug pushers due to the failure of a drug transport operation.

Starsky & Hutch find a dead floater (the body of the murdered pusher) on a pier a few days later. A clue from the dead man leads them to Feldman's house for questioning; Feldman denies any knowledge of the crime and states his regret for the man's death. Starsky and Hutch go to a prison to speak with a weird man Big Earl, who has connections with Feldman's drug business. They then get a packet of what they think is cocaine until Dobey, their captain, tells them it is artificial sweetener. Starsky uses it in his coffee and him, Hutch, Stacey and Holly go to a disco where Starsky exhibits effects of the drug. Hutch takes him home and proceeds to have a threesome with Holly and Stacey. Feldman continues to be the main suspect of the duo's investigation. A twist of fate ends the duo's career after they claim that Feldman stores drugs in his garage; during an undercover operation on the day of his daughter's Bat Mitzvah Starsky ends up accidentally shooting a pony in the garage. Captain Dobey (Fred Williamson) suspends Starsky and Hutch; they argue and it leads to a split in their friendship.

Meanwhile Hutch's neighbour Willis is involved in a bomb blast in Hutch's house, and breaks his leg (the bomb was intended for Hutch). Starsky comes to visit Willis in the hospital where a "who's at fault" argument finally leads to reconciliation. They both decide to go after Feldman and put an end to his drug business.

With help from Huggy Bear (Snoop Dogg), their compatriot and informant, they learn that Feldman plans to sell the drugs at a charity ball by hiding them in cars to be given away to preplanned customers (dope pushers).The disguised duo with Starsky's untimely "DO IT, DO IT" dialogue manage to enter the party and hold up Feldman, pretending to be winners of a car.

This leads to a faceoff between Feldman and the duo. In the gunfight Starsky tries to get Feldman by surprise and ends up shooting Captain Dobey by accident. The duo are then involved in a car chase over a golf course.Feldman along with his girlfriend Kitty (Juliette Lewis) takes off in his yacht hoping to escape the duo. Not far behind, the duo decide to ram Starsky's car into Feldman's yacht and race across a pier. The car hits a ramp, but jumps way off and misses the yacht. It rams into the sea and sinks. The duo manages to survive. However all is not lost; Huggy, who was hiding in the boat, comes out says "I found your nine iron bitch" and swings it at Feldman knocking him out cold(a reference to an earlier scene in which Huggy went undercover as Feldman and Kevin's golf caddy. Huggy showed up late on the tee of a par 3, and Feldman asked Huggy for the 9 iron, which Huggy had forgotten. This angered Feldman, but Huggy promptly gave him good advice to use his 8 iron, which he hit to within feet of the cup, impressing Feldman).In the last scene, at a party celebrating the capture of Feldman, Starsky is still upset about the loss of his car (a Ford Gran Torino). Huggy surprises him by buying him another Torino from the original Starsky and Hutch duo (David Soul & Paul Michael Glaser)The two happy cops roll out in their new Torino answering to the police radio.

Trivia

*Heather refers to her sign as Gemini and her weight as "115 pounds, I guess, give or take a pound or two (she is actually 2 pounds heavier)," both of which are also true of the actress portraying her, Brande Roderick.

*Ben Stiller's Maury Finkle character (Starsky undercover, "Do it") bears a strong resemblance to two other Ben Stiller characters: "The No, No, No Guy" from "The Ben Stiller Show" and "Tony Perkis Sr". from "Heavyweights". Similarities include a uniquely awkward deep voice, a "man purse", references to being the "Lighting Fixture King", and ridiculously overconfident pushiness.

* According to the final credits, the movie was dedicated to the stills photographer Elliott Marks (1941–2003).

* As well as original "Starsky & Hutch" actors Paul Michael Glaser and David Soul making cameo appearances, the original "Huggy Bear" Antonio Fargas also expressed interest of making a cameo of some sort, but ultimately was not used in the film.

*The Latin American dubbed version had a connection to the TV series in that David Soul and Paul Michael Glaser were dubbed by the same Mexican voice actors that lent their talents in the Spanish dub of the series during the '70s: Eduardo Liñan (Hutch) and the late Jose Maria Iglesias (Starsky). Likewise, the French version also enlisted the talents of the two actors who dubbed the original TV Series, Francis Lax (Hutch) and Jacques Balutin (Starsky), although they had been retired from dubbing for years then.

*In the movie Hutch (Owen Wilson) sings "Don't Give Up on Us". That song was originally performed by David Soul.

*An early prison scene shows Starsky and Hutch being watched by a wall-mounted video surveillance camera. However, the "camera" is made by Surveillance Video Systems (SVS), a maker of realistic-looking but non-functional dummy cameras.

*The scene where Starsky and Hutch play biker characters "Kansas" and "Toto" was derived from the movie Easy Rider. The song The Weight by The Band, that is playing in the beginning of the scene was also played in Easy Rider.

External links

* [http://starskyandhutchmovie.warnerbros.com/ Starsky & Hutch official website]
* [http://dmoz.org/Arts/Movies/Titles/S/Starsky_and_Hutch/ Category at ODP]
*imdb title|335438|Starsky & Hutch
*rotten-tomatoes|id=starsky_and_hutch|name=Starsky & Hutch
*mojo title|starskyandhutch|Starsky & Hutch
* [http://www.moviehole.net/news/20040305_3334.html Vince Vaughn interview for Starsky And Hutch]