5. The Three Stooges (Dir. Peter and Bobby Farrelly)
The movie: Helmed by a couple of former comedy kings, this “remake” is based around the infamous comic trio, one which drags the Stooges into an uncomfortable modern setting for a feature film comprised of three loosely-linked “episodes”. Chris Diamantopoulos, Sean Hayes, and Will Sasso (all of whom you’re struggling to picture, I’m sure) play Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Curly Howard respectively.
Why it’s awful: What happened to the Farrelly Brothers? At which point did they cease to understand what qualifies as funny? And how did they expect something like this to speak to audiences in 2012? Though perhaps it could’ve been a whole lot worse (the actors are fairly good at imitating their characters), The Three Stooges is a laborious affair, the kind of comedy that has you checking your watch hoping it’s almost over, only to realise that you’re just twenty minutes in and there’s a Lobster-throwing scene on the horizon.
Worst of all, the flick offers nothing fresh to the Stooges’ legacy, meaning that this is never much more than a numbing waste of time. It’s probably quite possible for somebody to sit through this – as a fan of the original Stooges or not – and not laugh even once, depending on how well you react to relentless slapstick and eye-poking gags. Simply put, The Three Stooges is one of the most annoying comedies to emerge this year. Which may or may not have been the point, I suppose, but where’s the charm?
Low point: “So, you boys on Facebook? I’ll poke you. Better yet, I’ll tweet you.” Ugh.
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