'The Three Stooges' Reviews: Critics React Favorably To Film

While the press surrounding the Farrelly Brothers' revamp of "The Three Stooges" has been somewhat wince-worthy, the flick might be worth its nyucks.

It's been a long road for the slap-happy trio, which were initially manned by the too-good-to-be-true Sean Penn, Jim Carrey and Benicio Del Toro, but since the film's beginning, there's been critical scorn.

However, with the film poised to hit theaters tomorrow, critics are far less judgemental -- the joke, it seems, was on them. (Zing!)

Below is a round-up on top critics' reactions to the upcoming film. Guess this is a lesson for us all: don't judge a movie by its crotch shots.

PHOTOS:

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• Manohla Dargis: NY TIMES

  "As usual, the Farrellys give this movie about as much visual style as you'd find in a Stooges two-reeler, but, as with the original films, you may be too busy watching and laughing at Moe, Larry and Curly to care."

• Joe Numaier: NY Daily News

  "This wackily anachronistic movie from the Farrelly brothers ("Dumb & Dumber," "There's Something About Mary") takes the beloved -- by male comedy fans of a certain age, anyway -- comedy trio whose heyday was the 1930s and '40s and reimagines them as the same eye-poking, belly-bopping, hijinks-creating goofs plopped in today's world."

• Michael Phillips: Chicago Tribune

  "I spent a lot of "The Three Stooges" staring, not laughing. For me this was a stare-out-loud affair."

• Todd McCarthy: THR

  "The boinks, pokes, slaps, nyuk-nyuks and nyaaahhhs mostly sound right and hit their marks in 'The Three Stooges,' the Farrelly Brothers' funny, good-hearted resuscitation of Hollywood's beloved lowbrow lunkheads."

• Richard Corliss: Time

  "Can somebody please fund a study on the debilitating effects of the worst modern comedies on the collective sense of humor of today's youth? I'd guess that the Farrellys and their comedy kin are committing a true seduction of the innocent. (Translation: The original trio was worlds funnier than this, or these, Three Stooges.)"

• Alison Willmore: AV Club

  "The faith the Farrellys have in the lasting entertainment value of this specific brand of vaudeville-born physical comedy is touching, if misguided. The Stooges' work may well be timeless, but that doesn't mean it can be easily transferred."

• Peter Debruge: Variety

  "Leave it to a sibling comedy duo to recognize the potential for brotherly love amid the Three Stooges' slap-happy antics, adding a welcome heartwarming dynamic to the gang's signature eye-poking, head-knocking routine."

• Glenn Kenny: MSN Movies

  "For all that, absent the weird post-modern kicks that might have ensued had better-known performers populated the top spots, this movie lives and dies with its jokes."

• Christy Lemire: Boston Globe

  "A little nyuk-nyuk-nyuk goes a long way in "The Three Stooges," Peter and Bobby Farrelly's feature-length homage to the classic slapstick comedy trio."

• Roger Ebert: Chicago Sun-Times

  "I didn't laugh much."

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