Stuck on You (film)
| Stuck on You | |
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 Theatrical poster |
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| Directed by | Farrelly Brothers |
| Produced by | Farrelly Brothers Mark Charpentier Marc S. Fischer Garrett Grant Kris Meyer Hal Olofsson Bradley Thomas Charles B. Wessler Endrick Lekay (uncredited) |
| Screenplay by | Farrelly Brothers Bennett Yellin John August Charles B. Wessler David Koepp |
| Starring | Matt Damon Greg Kinnear Eva Mendes Wen Yann Shih Pat Crawford Brown Cher |
| Music by | Michael Andrews |
| Cinematography | Daniel Mindel |
| Editing by | Christopher Greenbury Dave Terman |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox Regency Enterprises Conundrum Entertainment |
| Release date(s) | December 12, 2003 (US) |
| Running time | 118 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $55,000,000 |
| Box office | $100,800,000 |
Stuck On You is a 2003 comedy film directed by the Farrelly brothers and starring Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear as conjoined twins, whose conflicting aspirations provide both conflict and humorous situations, in particular when one of them wishes to move to Hollywood, California to pursue a career as an actor.
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[edit] Plot
Conjoined twins Bob (Matt Damon) and Walt (Greg Kinnear) Tenor try to live as normally as possible. Outgoing and sociable Walt aspires to be a Hollywood actor, however, whereas shy, introverted Bob prefers the quiet life. They run Quikee Burger, a diner in Oak Bluffs on Martha's Vineyard, that guarantees free meals to customers whose orders are not completed in three minutes, a testament to how skilled and in sync Bob and Walt are with each other. Though Walt is comfortable socializing with women, Bob is the shyer of the two, and carries on a long-distance relationship with a pen pal named May Fong (Wen Yann Shih) whom he has never met in person, and is unaware that they are conjoined twins.
Walt gets a role in a local play. Bob stays as much as possible in the background, as he has a tendency to get stage fright. Following the play's success, Walt decides to follow his dream to Hollywood and persuades his hesitant brother to go along for the ride.
They rent an apartment in California and become friends with fellow aspiring actress April Mercedes (Eva Mendes). When she expresses curiosity about their conjoinment, Walt explains that they share a liver that is mostly Bob's, and that because surgical separation provides a high risk to Walt, Bob would not consent to the surgery, even though Walt favored it.
Walt's efforts to find acting work in Hollywood are fraught with difficulty, and his agent, Morty O'Reilly (Seymour Cassel), is little help, offering at one point to get him a job in a pornographic film. Cher (who plays herself) is upset that she has ended up starring in a prime-time TV show called Honey and the Beaze. She wants out of the deal, so she decides to hire Walt as her co-star (since her contract states she can choose anyone she wants), certain the show will get cancelled. The producers, realizing Cher's scheme, foil it by going forward with the production, compensating for Bob's presence by keeping him out of the camera frame and employing bluescreen effects. The show is a surprise hit and Walt becomes famous.
Walt arranges for May Fong to come to California. Although he did this without Bob's consent, Bob and May Fong develop a romantic relationship, though the twins' attempt to keep their conjoined nature a secret proves challenging, especially since Walt must accompany the new couple everywhere, sometimes using creative solutions like disguising himself as a giant teddy bear. Eventually however, when May discovers the twins in bed, she concludes that they are a homosexual couple rather than brothers. Although Bob shows May that they are indeed conjoined twins, May is nonetheless in shock at the deception, and flees.
Morty informs the twins that word has leaked about Walt and Bob being conjoined. Rather than hide this, the twins decide to embrace it, and they both become huge celebrities, making commercials and appearing on the The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. While Walt enjoys this success, he knows that Bob is unhappy because he misses May. Resolving that Bob needs to be independent from him in order to be happy, Walt demands they be surgically separated. Bob refuses, but Walt eventually convinces him to acquiesce.
On the night before the surgery, May shows up and apologizes to Bob for running out the way she did. Bob informs her that they're getting separated. At the hospital, May and April keep a vigil until learning that the surgery was successful. Bob and May, both being small-town people, decide to move back to Oak Bluffs, but Bob finds the separation from Walt difficult, both practically and emotionally, and is unable to do the things by himself that the twins used to do together, such as maintain Quikee Burger's three minute challenge or play hockey. Walt, for his part, loses his job when Honey and the Beaze is canceled due to low ratings, and finds it difficult to find subsequent work. He is also emotionally devastated by Bob's absence.
One year later, Walt and Bob are back in Oak Bluffs running the restaurant together, and May is pregnant. The twins simulate their former conjoinment by with Velcro clothing that attaches them to one another. Walt finds creative fulfillment continuing in local plays, including a musical in which he and Meryl Streep play Bonnie and Clyde.
[edit] Cast
- Matt Damon as Bob Tenor
- Greg Kinnear as Walt Tenor
- Eva Mendes as April Mercedes
- Wen Yann Shih as May Fong
- Pat Crawford Brown as Mimmy
- Ray Valliere as Rocket
- Tommy Songin as Tommy
- Terence Bernie Hines as Moe Neary
- Cher as Herself
- Jackie Flynn as Howard
- Seymour Cassel as Morty O'Reilly
- Griffin Dunne as Himself
- Bridget Tobin as Vineyard Cutie
- Danny Murphy as Dicky
- Jay Leno as Himself
- Malcolm G. Chace Jr. as Vineyard Buddie
- Steve Tyler as Detective Reudy
- Dane Cook as Officer Fraioli
- Lin Shaye as Makeup Babe
- Fernanda Lima as Susie
- Annabella Thorne as MC Sideline
- Mary Hart as Herself (uncredited)
- Frankie Muniz as Himself (uncredited)
- Meryl Streep as Herself (uncredited)
- Jesse Ventura as Himself (uncredited)
[edit] Reception
[edit] Critical response
Review website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 60% based on 152 reviews, and an average rating of 6/10, with the consensus: "An unusually sweet and charming comedy by the Farrelly brothers. Fans may miss the distinct lack of bodily fluids though."[1]
[edit] Box office
Although the movie was made more than its production budget grossing $34 million in the United States and $32 million internationally,[2] its box office draw considerably underperformed the Farrelly Brothers previous hits. It only managed third place in its opening weekend box office (US) despite having the largest theater count of any movie that weekend (Dec 12-14 2003).
[edit] Music
The song "Human" recorded by Cher, who appears in the film, and produced by David Foster was included in the soundtrack (Flynn cover). There was no official release, but in Germany the song was released on a promotional CD of the soundtrack called "Unzertrennlich" and that version clocks 3:49. The version original is 4:25, never released. The song can be heard during the end credits of the film and is played during a scene in a club. This is the first Farrelly Brothers film not to have an official soundtrack.
Pete Yorn recorded a cover of the Albert Hammond classic "It Never Rains in Southern California" for the film, and like the aforementioned Cher song, remains unreleased. The Kings of Leon songs "California Waiting", "Molly Chambers" and "Holy Roller Novocaine" are all featured in the film as well, from the bands first EP Holy Roller Novacaine. Greg Kinnear's version of "Summertime" is an almost note-for-note cover of the Billy Stewart version. Eight minutes out in the movie, while at a bar, Morten Abel's song "Welcome Home" is played.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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