‘Starsky’ is mindless fluff but fun

JOHN DEPKO

Hollywood producers have developed a penchant for turning mediocre TV

shows of the 1970s into big-budget productions vying for your box

office dollars.

The rollicking “Starsky & Hutch” follows “Charlie’s Angels,” “Mod

Squad” and “I Spy” as the latest effort in this trend. As a 90-minute

escape from our everyday lives, this movie strives to be empty

calorie entertainment that cannot possibly challenge your mind but

(hopefully) leaves you laughing.

For what it’s worth, writer-director Todd Phillips does an

admirable job with the basic formula. He uses satire to poke fun at

the excesses of the characters and the disco-down polyester culture

so rampant in the 1970s. Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson are perfect

foils for each other as the odd couple filling the usual cop-buddy

roles. Stiller is Starsky, the uptight straight-arrow cop, while

Wilson is Hutch, the laid back surfer dude whose best friends live on

the fringes of the law.

Snoop Dogg is beyond ridiculous as the fluorescently dressed pimp

and dealer who provides the inside scoop to our heroes. Will Ferrell

is insane as a jailed informer who requires Starsky and Hutch to

assume some unusual positions before he will tell them what they want

to know. Carmen Electra and Amy Smart are the mighty fine

cheerleaders who provide the humorous sexual diversion.

Clearly, Phillips manages to squeeze out more laughs than the

retro material deserves, mostly because of excellent casting. You

realize just how silly it all is even while you’re periodically

chuckling at what’s up on the screen. Not all the gags work, but

there’s enough real laughter in this cotton candy movie to make it

the mindless fluff comedy it strives to be.

* JOHN DEPKO is a Costa Mesa resident and a senior investigator

for the Orange County public defender’s office.