The Three Stooges
User Score
6.1 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 77 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 51 out of 77
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 77
  3. Negative: 17 out of 77

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  1. FDT44
    Apr 13, 2012
    2
    Playing out more like a tribute than an originally-drawn twist on a classic, 'Stooges' is an imitation piece that fails to offer anything new and germane to modern times; its material, embarrassingly camp and derivative, feels too overly forced and enervating to connect audiences with humor outdated some 80-odd years. Though the "Big-3" (Hayes, Sasso, and Diamantopoulos) turn in first rate impersonations, carrying out the same aching eye-pokes, excruciating hair pulls, bone-crushing skull slaps, and nasty knuckle sandwiches, not to mention the familiar dissonant squabbling and airy mindlessness, they don't even bother to deviate from just that: impersonations; the characters have no intention to extend themselves beyond a 'Mad-TV'-esque imitation-comedy-skit--offering little else than ephemerally visible-but-not-felt- smiles, followed by long-lasting regret and discontent. And, adding to the feeling are cheap laughs, underdeveloped cameo appearances from modern "characters" ('Jersey Shore' cast members among them), cheap and flatly-shot scenes, desultorily unapt classic-rock scores, as well as reproachably classless, and dismal attempts to appeal to contemporary audiences--breast and bathroom jokes with references to drug use--all of which disceptively slide past the approbated PG-rating. Did the fillmmakers fail to realize their forbear was clean? Ultimately, the Farrelly brothers, regardless of their own inspirations, don't create anything inspiring--they create a travesty--and participate in an exercise of fully-fledged defaming. It's "Soitenly" despicable.… Expand
  2. Knicksfan7
    Apr 13, 2012
    2
    I never was a 3 stooges fan so i did not enjoy this movie at all. I only saw it because my friend and i were bored and the only movie available at the time was this one. Thank god i work for Regal and i get in for free because this movie was the dumbest thing i've ever wasted an hour and a half of my life on. It was the definition of stupidity. I could even tell this wasn't like the original three stooges which i rarely watched. Its just like what FDT44 said, it was more like a tribute rather than a remake. This movie was just horrible, maybe if your a big three stooges fan you MIGHT enjoy this movie, but otherwise, stay away, at all costs. 2/10… Expand
  3. a7xfan
    Apr 14, 2012
    4
    This movie was probably one of the dumbest films I have ever seen but it wasn't super bad it just really didn't have anything to offer except for introducing little kids to the slapstick phenomenon of the 30s', 40s', and 50s' and to those who grew up watching the reruns in the 60s' and 70s'. The slapstick was really the only part that really stuck out in the film and the famous co-stars behind it. At least this film was better than any Alvin and the Chipmunks movie. I wouldn't be surprised if they came out with a sequel but I am not sure who would really see it... just more older people and their grandchildren. See it if you want to re-live the old show. For ages 4-13 or 45-80… Expand
  4. Finfid
    May 15, 2012
    0
    An abomination? Is that the word? Costumes, makeup, and the actors in general. How about the shameless marketing? This has to be someone's misguided attempt and making money off an American Icon. Shameful works too.
  5. Seriosity
    Nov 26, 2012
    3
    Sometimes the slapstick and sight gags are enjoyable, but as a whole it is just so unbelievably irritating and completely unnecessary. A bad tribute. Ugh.
  6. JamesClark
    Feb 16, 2013
    0
    To start I'm James. I'm 27 and I can remember some of my earliest memories being that of the 3 stooges slapping and poking each other silly. I absolutely love each and every short that was made. I own all of them and even have many pieces of stooge memorabillia. I recently just returned from the middle east where I was sent when I joined the M.C. When I returned I was delighted to hear about a tribute being made of the stooges by the Farrelly brothers. I went and saw the movie with my fiancee, who is also and avid stooge fan, and 30 minutes into the movie we left. Why? This series of short tributes was a travesty to say the least. I have been shot and hit by pieces of shrapnel and didn't shed a tear. This tragic farce of a film actually made me so angry that I cried knowing that the real stooges would never have written such a despicable film and that people would actually have the to allow this trash to even go to script. In closing this film is the next worst thing next to the extermination of the Jewish people during the holocaust and if Peter and Bobby Farrelly had any sense they would erase any idea of making more of these short films. They are an insult to stooge fans everywhere.… Expand
  7. BrianMcCritic
    Apr 30, 2013
    1
    I was never a big three stooges fan, but after watching this movie I have more respect for the original stooges. I hated this movie one of the worst of 2012.

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
56 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 26 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 26
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 26
  3. Negative: 4 out of 26
  1. The New Yorker
    Reviewed by: David Denby
    Apr 23, 2012
    80
    The Farrelly brothers, who directed, take physical comedy to levels of intricacy not seen since silent movies.
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  2. New York Magazine (Vulture)
    Reviewed by: David Edelstein
    Apr 14, 2012
    60
    The combination of childlike glee and grown-up precision is a wonder. The movie actually earns the right to exist, which is no mean feat.
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  3. Slant Magazine
    Reviewed by: Jaime N. Christley
    Apr 13, 2012
    75
    After what seems like an eternity of inanity and incompetence in the realm of Cats & Dogs and Squeakquels, the Farrelly brothers' direction is downright classical.
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