The Three Stooges
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation | Release Date: April 13, 2012 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
56
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 26 Critic Reviews
Positive:
13
Mixed:
9
Negative:
4
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanApr 12, 2012
All three of the leads get very close to the Stooges' old looks and personalities, but they do more than impersonate; they inhabit. Read full review
90
The New York TimesManohla DargisApr 12, 2012
Peter and Bobby Farrelly's thoroughly enjoyable paean to Moe, Larry and Curly and the art of the eye poke. Read full review
80
The New YorkerDavid DenbyApr 23, 2012
The Farrelly brothers, who directed, take physical comedy to levels of intricacy not seen since silent movies. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyApr 12, 2012
Stars Chris Diamantopoulos, Will Sasso and Sean Hayes are on the money as Moe, Curly and Larry in a film containing more plot and sentiment than the boys' shorts ever had. Read full review
80
MovielineStephanie ZacharekApr 12, 2012
Bobby and Peter Farrelly's The Three Stooges is not particularly great, though it is possibly brilliant, a picture that goes beyond homage to become its own rambunctious invention - it's one big eye-poke, with footnotes. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineJaime N. ChristleyApr 13, 2012
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. Read full review
75
USA TodayClaudia PuigApr 12, 2012
Pop culture references intermingle with the loopy trio's iconic foolishness, and the result is a movie with some big laughs, plenty of heart and terrible coifs. Read full review
75
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallApr 12, 2012
The Farrellys affectionately structure their movie to resemble the Stooges' one-reelers from the 1930s, while the modern setting shows how timeless their rapid-fire puns, insults and pratfalls truly are. Silliness never goes out of style. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyApr 12, 2012
There is an appealing nyuk, nyuk nostalgic spirit to The Three Stooges. To fully appreciate this paean to slapstick and silly nonsense simply requires that cynicism be temporarily shelved and the thinking side of the brain shut down. Read full review
70
VarietyPeter DebrugeApr 12, 2012
Peter and Bobby Farrelly tone down the abuse without compromising the numbskulls' unique style of physical comedy, making for an unexpectedly pleasant yet unapologetically lowbrow outing true to the spirit that has made the trio such an enduring comedy fixture since its bigscreen debut in 1930. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Stephen ColeApr 12, 2012
The result, which could be entitled There's Something About Curly, is an unabashedly moronic celebration of slap shtick. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeWesley MorrisApr 12, 2012
How could the Farrellys not? It pleases me to report that the movie is far from a disaster – on a dozen or so occasions, it's even funny. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertApr 11, 2012
I didn't laugh much. I don't think the Stooges are funny, although perhaps I might once have. Some of the sight gags were clever, but meh. The three leads did an admirable job of impersonation. I think this might be pretty much the movie Stooges fans were looking for. Read full review
60
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinApr 14, 2012
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. Read full review
60
Time OutJoshua RothkopfApr 13, 2012
The metafriction between these classic dupes and today's idiots chafes uneasily. Read full review
60
Boxoffice MagazinePete HammondApr 12, 2012
Sure you could just go and rent the original DVDs, but this kind of gut-busting, hit 'em in the groin humor is still funny as hell, especially in the hands of the Farrelly Brothers. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierApr 12, 2012
There's just some great imitations of what remains an acquired taste. Read full review
50
Rolling StonePeter TraversApr 12, 2012
The Stooges were always better in short doses. And 90 minutes of PG nyuk-nyuk-nyuk can seem like an eternity. Read full review
50
TimeRichard CorlissApr 12, 2012
Theirs was a ruthless Cinema of Cruelty; this is whimsy with a coating of corrosion. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsApr 12, 2012
Absurdly brutal slapstick is a tough thing to sustain across a feature. I spent a lot of The Three Stooges staring, not laughing. For me this was a stare-out-loud affair. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubAlison WillmoreApr 11, 2012
The Three Stooges isn't very funny, but it is, like last year's far superior "The Muppets," a sincere act of fandom on an epic scale. Read full review
40
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzApr 12, 2012
The movie is content to simply mimic the old Stooges, bringing nothing new to the table. Read full review
38
New York PostLou LumenickApr 13, 2012
For starters, it wasn't a great idea to basically borrow the premise of "The Blues Brothers'' and turn these quintessential Jewish characters (something that's not even hinted at) into the bumbling would-be saviors of the Catholic orphanage where they were raised. Read full review
38
Washington PostSean OConnellApr 12, 2012
So why bother with this earnest but imperfect impersonation when the original artists are readily available on VHS and DVD? Read full review
11
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovApr 12, 2012
A work of near-existential pointlessness. It's true to the anarchic, silly spirit of the original clowning, but there's very little else to it. Read full review
0
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleApr 12, 2012
It's just not enough to say that The Three Stooges is the death of comedy. Rather, it's the death, burial, putrefaction and decomposition of comedy. It is where comedy, once alive, ends up as dust blowing in the wind, like something out of a really bad Kansas song. Read full review
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