Starsky and Hutch 2004

Critics score:
64 / 100

Reviews provided by RottenTomatoes

Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press: A movie that manages to capture the swinging '70s vibe while effectively satirizing it. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: The worst thing about Starsky & Hutch is how devoid of actual jokes the movie is. It's all premise, no substance. Read more

Mark Caro, Chicago Tribune: If a movie rises and falls solely on the basis of its laughs, it better have a lot of them. Starsky & Hutch doesn't. Read more

Mark Rahner, Seattle Times: Apart from wardrobe and hair, the two heroes completely miss the spirit that made the original spark. Read more

Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper: [A] lot of fun from start to finish. Read more

Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Yet another based-on- a-TV-hit, oh-those- crazy-'70s dud. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: An enjoyably stupid night at the movies. Read more

Manohla Dargis, Los Angeles Times: No one involved with Starsky & Hutch actually seems to care about the movie. Read more

Eric Harrison, Houston Chronicle: A moderately amusing diversion. Read more

Paul Clinton (CNN.com), CNN.com: It will warm your funny bone if given half a chance. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: There is a comic-book devouring, Playboy-stashing adolescent male heart thumping rather sweetly at the core of this homage-spoof. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: Phillips, who started out making creepy (and funny) documentaries, has become a canny repackager of yesterday's schlock -- a mall-friendly purveyor of arrested comedy for an arrested world. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: Although Starsky & Hutch is a movie without a sincere moment, somehow it never seems cynical. Read more

Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News: This 'Why bother?' spinoff of the '70s undercover cop show is little more than a 99-minute shtickfest built around something resembling a plot. Read more

Scott Foundas, L.A. Weekly: Hollywood's latest McMovie -- name-brand recognition as raison d'etre or, if you will, creative bankruptcy on a very large scale. Read more

John Anderson, Newsday: Being a period piece hardly excuses Starsky & Hutch from being a cliche-ridden, uncharming and tiresome exercise in recycled humor. Read more

Peter Rainer, New York Magazine/Vulture: Stiller and Wilson look bewildered. Read more

Lisa Rose, Newark Star-Ledger: One the best '70s tube lampoons since 1995's The Brady Bunch Movie. Read more

Jack Mathews, New York Daily News: This S&H is only as funny as you can imagine Stiller and Wilson being. For me, that's pretty funny. Read more

Elvis Mitchell, New York Times: The big-screen adaptation of the 1970's television cop show Starsky & Hutch has a crafty, can-you-dig-it? spirit. Read more

Andrew Sarris, New York Observer: A sterling supporting cast -- down to the tiniest bit parts -- provides enough astringent intelligence to make the slobbering sentimentality go down with ease. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: The stars give [the movie] so many knee-slapper moments you'll want to wear long thick pants to save your thighs. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: The key to the film's success is that it uses the burned out premise as the springboard for a comedy, not an action flick. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: A surprisingly funny movie. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com: Moves slowly and without much grace; it tries to jiggle laughs out of us instead of letting them flow freely. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: Starsky & Hutch is funny throughout, but with a handful of really hilarious moments of a kind that most comedies just don't deliver. Read more

David Edelstein, Slate: Forget Mel Gibson, this is the year's biggest bummer for the Jews: that their biggest box-office champ, apart from Jesus, is the image of angry impotence. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: An affectionate satire of the late-'70s action series, it retains an agreeable small-screen modesty. Read more

Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star: Like countless other flabby, winking studio comedies out there, this movie plays like a series of sketches begging for commercial breaks. Read more

Richard Schickel, TIME Magazine: Starsky & Hutch has moments of hilarity a little greater than you might expect of a movie that is just out for a lazy good time. Read more

Derek Adams, Time Out: Too amiable to cook up anything truly memorable... Read more

Mike Clark, USA Today: Though Stiller and Wilson may be today's most overexposed actors, they have infectious chemistry here. Read more

Brian Lowry, Variety: Like most movies derived from 1960s and '70s TV, Starsky & Hutch doesn't possess the kind of ingenuity necessary to sustain feature length. Read more

Dennis Lim, Village Voice: S&H's chief pleasure is the spontaneous, sometimes quite touching rapport between the two stars. Read more