The Stupids (1996)

Ah yes the story of a family so stupid that they accidentally get involved in a plot of international intrigue and save the world.

First a note to all those bashing this movie: Its supposed to be stupid. This film is good because it's so bad. Thats the whole point. It has some genuinely funny moments and decent acting from Christopher Lee and Jessica Lundy.

Rent this movie and make fun of it with your friends, I think that's what the producers intended.

RELEASE THE DRIVE BEE!

Fmovies: I first saw this movie when it came out in theaters with my whole family. Today I am the only one of the family who remembers it ever existed. I can recall all the best gags and to this day cannot think of some if them without laughing out loud.

It's time to face facts: this is a FUNNY movie!

For those of you not familiar with the Stupid books (a favorite of mine in childhood), they follow a lovable, but naive and essentially retarded, family, somewhere along the lines of The Addams Family and the Simpsons. Notable gags include like a flower labeled "Mount Stupid" or a man arrives at a costume party dressed as the Easter Bunny, who comes down the chimney saying "Ho ho ho!",; later it is revealed he was, in fact, merely wearing his Sunday best. Not the most intelligent or witty humor, but hilarious in its own right.

The movie very much follows in this vein. The humor is, albeit, a little childish, but it can also be droll, absurd, ridiculous and clever, in a way similar to Looney Tunes, or the more slapstick comedies of Mel Brooks. The Stupid Family continues their idiotic antics, while at the same time coming across a very serious enemy--some sort of evil military killing squad whose purpose I can only vaguely remember. The serious people aren't important, really-- it's how the Stupids react to them that is the spirit of the film. Tom Arnold plays Stanley Stupid, ineffectual patriarch of the Stupid clan, fittingly with cheerfulness, energy and sheer, utter obliviousness. Yes, he did win the Award for Worst Actor this year, but it was for two other films as well as this one. People should keep that in mind before judging the movie and Tom.

Granted, I saw this film many, many, years ago, when I was a young child, and since then have relied solely on memory of it. If I were to see it again today, or even if I saw it today for the first time, I might not think so fondly of it. But the world has seen many, more famous comedic films that are not nearly as funny.

Does it deserve its condemnation and obscurity? That is something I'll leave you to decide for yourselves. But in order to do that, you have to WATCH IT!!

"The Stupids" is essentially a comedy of ideas, and, praise the Lloyd, the ideas are all quite funny, sometimes brilliantly so. The characters are lovable and unforgettable, innocent idiots who make you laugh whereas real-life idiots just make you angry. The plot is twisty-turny and ridiculous, with a happy, certain, positive message. There are two worlds, the imaginary world of the Stupids, and the real (though still stupidified) world inhabited by the other characters. The ingenuity of the writers, as in Cervantes and Shakespeare, involves the unifying of both worlds into one linear stream of events, each event having unforeseeable effects in the other world, and pushing the plot towards the glorious point at which the conflicts in both worlds are simultaneously resolved. In this respect, it could be compared to the best, most recent films of Roberto Benigni, films like "The Monster" and "Life is Beautiful" in which the clear, warm glow of the imaginary world outshines the dark, mean-spirited murk of the real one. "The Stupids" gave me, more than once, that "Yeah, THIS is what life is all about!" feeling, something I never expected to find when my little cousins insisted we rent it. Even discounting all that sugary garbage, it's fun to watch, the pieces of the plot fall cleverly into place with beautifully-timed coolness, and they even throw in a great song, JUST BECAUSE IT'S GREAT!

Much as I love it, and always will, "The Stupids" is not perfect. Despite its general goodness and high quotabilty, some of the dialogue could've been tweaked, although 90% of the lines are exactly as they should be, advancing the plot, developing the characters (adding subtle layers of stupidity to their psychotic personalities), and being funny. Certain characters, like the pets (well, only the pets), I found to be superfluous and tedious, seemingly added on the whim of some evil, Senderesque movie-tyrant who thought it could use just a bit more cuteness to appeal to the something-or-other age bracket. The sight gags are all well conceived, but often poorly executed. I can't help the feeling that maybe some in-charge people didn't have enough faith in the film (or, anyway, in its financial success) to justify spending a leetle bit more time and effort (and $) on making it perfect.

Faults notwithstanding, it remains a happy escape and a surprising hidden treasure for those who take the time to watch it and to savor it, and to laugh at how stupid it isn't.

The Stupids fmovies. Only rent or buy this if you like the sort of humour displayed in movies like Kung Pow and Mr. Bean. This movie is so stupid that even veterans of the slapstick comedy genre will be cringing. Just look at the quotes and you'll have some nice examples of what I mean. "MAN BUSH, you have no equal!" The plot is interesting - Stanley Stupid wakes up one day to discover his garbage stolen again from right outside his own home. Determined to find those responsible, he sets off on a quest to find a man called Sender, who through... crazy and foolish logic, he believes is planning a worldwide conspiracy to steal the world's garbage.

Along the way he uncovers a military weapons distributing operation, which forms most of the opposition in the plot, as they try to kill him repeatedly, and through sheer stupidity and luck, he evades them.

You can't accuse the story of being cliché or unoriginal - not many movies involve meeting God in a planetarium.

The characters are all uniquely stupid, and while their clothes are as unpleasant as fashion can be, they're all very entertaining. Except the daughter, who may annoy more than entertain, but you get those in every movie.

All in all, as long as you're looking for a film with humour so.. STUPID, you'll wet yourself, then you'll probably laugh yourself silly watching this. I first saw it back in 1997 or so, and only managed to find the video last year on ebay. It's a fairly rare video, I think, but I'm hoping it'll come out in Region 2 DVD before long :) Rent/Buy? The humour can be a specialised taste. I'd recommend renting it, but if you can buy it for a reasonable price, I recommend buying it in case you do like it, because it's pretty rare.

I enjoyed watching this movie. Should I apologize for that? No, I don't believe I should. I find Tom Arnold funny. I like watching dumb people do stupid things; it makes me feel better about myself. I actually burst out laughing during several parts of this movie. The car-bomb was the best.

However, I realize that not everyone will like this movie. Most people, in fact, will hate it. So let me sum up what is wrong with this movie.

First off, there is the terrible acting. God-awful. Oh-the-pain, where-did-they-find-that-kid acting. Tom Arnold is not a particularly good actor - he did well in True Lies because Cameron is a good director that understands timing - but Tom Arnold doesn't have much facial expression variety, and he spends most of the movie wearing that same stupid grin plastered on the cover of the video. The kids weren't much better, but I fault the director for that one (I'll get to the direction in a minute).

Secondly, the "clever" script. Now, the first time I watched this, I thought it was clever, too. But after re-watching, I realized that if your characters are incredibly stupid, you can throw motivation out the window. I can imagine the writers - "how can we justify them putting the garbage out every week even though it gets stolen" "Oh, that's easy, they're STUPID!" This movie is full of that. Unbelievably bad choices only made because the characters have no integrity. A movie like this writes itself, because you are freed from the bonds of actual cleverness; characters that do anything allow you to do whatever you want and not have to worry about whether it makes sense. Trust me, if you watch this, you'll see what I mean. The Stupids never do anything that makes sense, which is why it's funny. But an intelligent script, it is not.

Lastly, there is the slipshod direction. This movie is very theatrical. Deep theater roots. Its comedy is awkward, obvious, and drawn out, just like theater comedy. There is no subtlety whatsoever. If you want the movie to be funny, it will be funny. But if you are suspicious, it is certainly not going to win your heart.

And that, in the end, is the problem with the movie; if you don't want to like it, you won't, because it is too easy to dislike. Only see it if you are truly interested and believe that it can be good, because its charm and uniqueness are its good qualities. This is not a movie that disappoints - it is a movie that sits right where you expect it to lie on the quality scale. If you believe it can be good, it will reward you. But if you see it and don't like it, it really is because you didn't want to enjoy it, for whatever reason.

I'm a little ashamed to admit that I really liked this movie. Maybe it's because I went into it with such low expectations, but I was pleasantly surprised. It's just so silly, and the characters didn't annoy me, and it was all very colorful and cartoonish-looking. I smiled and laughed through the whole thing. And I plan to buy the soundtrack because I have to have a copy of the song, "I'm My Own Grandpaw." So if you're ever flipping through the channels and you notice it's on, I recommend watching it (at least for a few minutes).