The Three Stooges

If you are after a comedy that actually makes you laugh out loud, The Three Stooges is available in Australia on Disney Plus, and in the US on YouTube TV right now. The length is exactly right for the story it is telling — nothing rushed, nothing dragged out. 654 people have weighed in on TMDB, and the verdict leans heavily positive. Sean Hayes sets the tone, and the rest of the cast matches it scene for scene. Start it on Disney Plus whenever you need something guaranteed to land.

The Three Stooges is not trying to be everything to everyone, and that focus is exactly what makes it work. The Three Stooges gets the fundamentals right first, then finds room to get weird with it. Left on the doorstep of an orphanage run by nuns, three newborn knuckleheads grow up to be finger-poking, nyuk-nyuking janitors named Larry, Curly and Moe. When they learn that financial problems will soon force the only home they've ever known to close, the trio sets out to raise $830,000 in one month. Out in the world for the very first time, the three innocent bumblers become embroiled in a murder plot and find stardom on a TV reality show. The chemistry Sean Hayes and Will Sasso bring to it does a lot of the heavy lifting. It was released in 2012. The timing in The Three Stooges is precise enough that even the throwaway lines land on a second watch. It delivers reliably on what it promises, which is more than most of its competition manages.

Comedy fans looking for a reliably funny watch will find it in The Three Stooges. It has built its own audience without needing a direct comparison. The complete film is available and best experienced without too much prior knowledge of where it goes. Sean Hayes's comic timing carries it through its weaker moments. The kind of comedy you recommend to someone who claims they do not watch much.