Starsky & Hutch (2004)
Here's the thing about Starsky & Hutch: it was never going to be a surprise. The moment you clock that Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson are your leads, you already know exactly the film you're walking into. And look, I don't mean that as a total condemnation. There's comfort in knowing what you're getting. But there's also a nagging feeling that sits with you throughout, this persistent sense that the film could have been something sharper, something with a bit more bite, if someone had just nudged it in a slightly different direction.
The problem is Stiller and Wilson themselves. They're not bad here, not remotely. They do exactly what they always do, which is precisely the issue. They bring that very specific, loose, winking brand of comedy to everything they touch, and they absolutely refuse to play it straight for even a single second. Some of that lands. There are genuine laughs scattered through the runtime. But it dials the whole thing up to such a relentless, self-aware campiness that it never gets a chance to breathe as anything more than a broad caricature of the original 70s show. It's like watching someone do an impression of a film rather than actually making one. I had similar thoughts watching Meet the Fockers (2004) around the same time, where Stiller's presence sort of steamrolls the material into a particular shape whether the story wants it or not.
That said, you can't lay it all at their feet. The rest of the ensemble is actually pretty great. Snoop Dogg as Huggy Bear is genuinely inspired casting, playing it with this beautifully laid-back cool that gets the biggest laughs in the film precisely because he's not mugging for them. Amy Smart and Juliette Lewis both understand the assignment, deliver the right amount of early-2000s comedic flair, and don't overstep. They all know what movie they're in. It's just that the movie they're in doesn't quite have the ambition to match their collective charisma.
Strip away the retro fashion, the punchlines and the sheer silliness, and what you're left with is pure "turn your brain off" viewing. It doesn't ask much of you, and in return, it gives you exactly what a mid-2000s studio comedy was designed to give. This was very much the era of Todd Phillips finding his feet with broad ensemble comedy, and if you've seen Old School (2003), you can see the same DNA at work: energetic, irreverent, funny in patches, but never quite as clever as it thinks it is.
Where the film does genuinely surprise you is the action. The car chase sequences are actually brilliant, particularly a standout practical sequence with the iconic red and white Gran Torino that puts a lot of CGI-heavy modern blockbusters to shame. There's a real physicality to those moments, a proper sense of weight and speed, and for a few minutes you get a glimpse of a more confident, grounded film lurking underneath all the mugging. It's fleeting, but it's there, and it's the one area where Starsky & Hutch earns genuine admiration rather than fond tolerance.
Outside of those moments though, it's standard buddy cop fare. It's not trying to reinvent anything, and it certainly doesn't. What you get is a perfectly serviceable, nostalgic slice of early-2000s popcorn cinema that works best when you've got snacks on, your brain in neutral and your expectations calibrated accordingly. It's not the clever, actually decent spoof it so easily could have been with a different approach, but if you just want to watch two blokes bicker in a retro car for ninety-odd minutes, it does the job without ever embarrassing itself.
Three stars.
Rating: ★★★ | Year: 2004 | Watched: 2026-06-12
Where to watch
Watch in the UK
Stream: Netflix · Paramount Plus · Discovery+ Amazon Channel · Netflix Standard with Ads
Rent: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Sky Store
Buy: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi
Watch in the US
Rent: Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube · Fandango At Home
Buy: Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube · Fandango At Home
Physical: Amazon US
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