Time has not been kind to the '70s. For some reason, everything that was cool 30 years ago is cheesy by today's standards. Thank God the makers of Starsky & Hutch took note of this.
The worst mistake Hollywood made when it tried to bring back Shaft was taking him out of his decade and attempting to take him seriously. In today's world, Shaft is just another detective, and Starsky and Hutch are just two more buddy cops with bad hair. But in the '70s, they were icons.
Starsky & Hutch doesn't just spoof the original TV show, it spoofs the whole decade, with often-hilarious results. Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson pretty much play themselves as David Starsky and Ken "Hutch" Hutchinson, respectively, which works fine since the two actors already share an easy chemistry.
The story begins with a series of buddy cop clichés with tongue firmly planted in cheek. The angry chief demands badges, the reluctant partners hate each other, etc. All of this is done with mock-seriousness as Starsky and Hutch strut around with that campy, '70s, tough-guy walk to equally campy, '70s waka-chika-waka music. Gradually, the situations the two bickering cops get into become more and more bizarre. An inadvertently coked-up Starsky competes in a disco dance competition, and Hutch has to adhere to a convict's perverted requests in order to get information. There's even an homage to Easy Rider, when our heroes ride to a biker bar disguised as Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda.
The central conflict involves a drug dealer named Reese Feldman (an entertaining Vince Vaughn), but the plot is generally an afterthought, as it should be in this kind of movie.
It's been too long since I've seen the TV show for me to be sure how far the filmmakers have deviated from the original concept. But as a spoof, it doesn't need to be too faithful. And die-hard fans should be pleased by the cameos of Paul Michael Glaser and David Soul, the original Starsky and Hutch.
Whether you're a fan of the show or you think that Starsky and Hutch sounds like the parts of a 1974 Ford Torino engine, as long as you enjoy laughing at the most easily ridiculed decade in American history, you'll enjoy this movie.