Starsky & Hutch

Starsky and Hutch, another big-screen makeover for another fondly remembered 70s show, pairs Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson--dark, wiry and tense meets blonde, lanky and loose--a solid comic team who previously appeared together in Zoolander. But the funniest man in the movie is Vince Vaughn, diving into his role as a sleazy drug dealer (who nonetheless buys a pony for his daughter's bat mitzvah) with the offhand zest that he brings to almost every role (from Swingers to Old School) and effortlessly stealing every scene he's in. Vaughn has concocted a new and undetectable kind of cocaine, and only two cops who aren't afraid to break the rules--our titular pair--can catch him. But the plot isn't the point; mocking-yet-loving jabs at the 70s, including the homoerotic overtones of Starsky and Hutch's partnership, are what this movie is about. The satire is surprisingly mild but still entertaining, particularly when Vaughn or Snoop Dogg (as informant Huggy Bear) hold the screen. --Bret Fetzer