The Self-Made Critic -- In Theaters

This could have been ugly.

A film about conjoined twins had such a fine line to walk to avoid being either amazingly cruel and insulting or, perhaps even worse, an demeaning abomination of The Other Sister proportions.

Yet somehow, and in some way, Stuck On You is neither. It is, quite honestly, hilariously funny and good-natured. In short, a good flick.

Keep in mind this film is brought to us by Farrelly Brothers, who have a habit of picking politically incorrect topics for comedies such as Fat People (Shallow Hal), Schizophrenics (Me, Myself & Irene), The Intelligence-challenged (Dumb and Dumber) and Bowling (Kingpin).

And yet, somehow, Stuck On You delivers. It is not insulting. It is heart-warming. It is funny.

Lord, is it funny. A couple of times I giggled Coke out my nose. Very painful.

Greg Kinnear and Matt Damon are thoroughly enjoyable as Walt and Bob Tenor, conjoined twins who have completely and utterly carved out a normal life for themselves with ease. They own and run a burger joint. They excel at such sports as hockey, football and baseball. Walt scores with the chicks. (Bob's a little shy, and often ends up sitting on the other side of a sheet partition when Walt and a woman are getting it on.) Walt is an accomplished actor who receives raves for his one-man show (with Bob dressed in black, trying not to be seen). They have a good life, lots of friends, everything going for them.

Them Walt has a dream: to come to Hollywood and act on the big screen.

There are some very, very funny scenes in this film. And almost none of them center on Walt and Bob being conjoined twins. That's the beauty of the film. It's funny in and of itself. Bob falls in love. Walt enters the Hollywood system. Dreams are chased. Obstacles overcome. Conflicts resolved.

And there are a lot of sex jokes.

If there's one thing you can count on from the Farrelly Brothers, it's sex jokes. From the forever-classic Cameron Diaz hair-gel scene to Jim Carrey and the butt-plug to Gwenyth Paltrow's underwear, less-than-ordinary sexual humor is a welcome staple of these movies. Stuck On You is no exception, and does not disappoint.

I refer you to the "giggling Coke out of my nose" reference as exhibit number one.

The supporting characters are as colorful, if not more so, than the Tenor brothers. Seymour Cassel plays Morty, a deliciously nutty agent with some of the best inside Hollywood jokes in the script. There's a perky, superficial sex pot, a screenwriter who will go to any length to avoid writing, and a delicious host of celebrities playing themselves, including Cher, who gives a brilliant caricature of herself. At least, I assume it was a caricature. Whatever, she has some great hair in this pic.

All that makes for one funny film. Are the main characters conjoined twins? You bet. Does that mean this is a mean-spirited farce? Heck no. We rejoice in these characters because THEY rejoice in themselves. They see no reason why they can't do things everyone else does, who are we to think any less of them?

Like the Lionel Ritchie song of the same name, Stuck On You delivers a feeling down deep in your soul that you just can't lose. It'll bring a smile to your face, if you let it, and put a song in your heart. Probably a Cher song, but you'll get over it.

I'm giving Stuck On You 4 Babylons. There's a good chance that if you see it, you will laugh. Many times. And really, what more can you ask for in a comedy?

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Editor's Note:

I know that the SMC saw this movie at a Mommy and Me with a bunch of screaming babies, so I don't know how much weight you should give his review.

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Stuck On You
Rated: PG-13
Directed by: Bobby Farrelly and Peter Farrelly
Starring: Matt Damon, Greg Kinnear, Eva Mendes, Wen Yann Shih, Terence Bernie Hines, Seymour Cassel, Cher, Meryl Streep and Gretel Twombly as the Fluffer. Well, actually, her character is just "Fluffer" as opposed to "The Fluffer" but you get the idea. Yup, it's a great movie.

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