The Stupids (1996)

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

I cannot believe that the film is getting lots of positive reviews on this site!!!! This film should'be been aborted!!!! This film is such an abomination!!!!! Literally the worst film! The acting itself was a complete disaster!! This film is not funny at all!!!! I feel as if 1/10 is a bit too much for this film. I do not understand how people could stomach through this garbage. I'd rather sit through traffic than to have to watch that horrible film again. At least then I wouldn't have to listen to Tom Arnold's career plummet through the toilet. The Stupids was a major box office failure, grossing just $2,491,989 from an estimated $25 million budget.

This movie provides the answer to the age-old question I know some of you have asked yourselves at least once, "How can someone be so stupid and still remain living?" If you're going to enjoy this movie, you have to be a willing co-conspirator, able to reserve judgement. You have to meet this movie on it's own level, not expect it to come to you. Like a play instead of a modern, 'ran through tons of focus groups', Hollywood flick. If you go in feeling lots of skepticism or feel like your 'inner film-critic' wants to watch the movie with you for live analysis, then go see "The Piano". If you want to see an absurd spectacle made of the "modern" nuclear family, with a subversive glint, and a Hollywood (low)budget, perhaps to almost suffocate from laughter, then watch 'The Stupids'. Stanley was a role Tom Arnold was born to play.OK, first understand that this movie isn't played like your average American 'popular comedy' movie.(As evidenced by it's poor box office showing.) The characters come from a series of children's books that gained a global underground following after a number of Family Values Groups tried to get it banned in the US. So that sets the stage for me for what they were actually trying to do with this movie, and I love the hell of out it.The director and the writers and heck, even the underwriters really had some balls to put this movie out like they did. A real gamble to make "a bad movie, well done", totally on purpose. None of the characters are social archetypes that are 'too cool for school', they're not going to bank on pop culture references or nostalgia, they don't expect you to relate to what you're seeing or sympathize with the characters. I don't want to say Brechtian, but it's definitely old-school theatre style. Everything is done for the pure purpose of hilarious spectacle, to make the viewer question both what they're seeing, and their sanity. When Mrs. Stupid comes out wearing that camouflage dress she made out of wigs, I knew I had lost it. You won't see that anywhere else, played straight like it was, like, "there's mom, in a ghillie suit made of wigs.", in perfect context, and almost making sense? You either take this movie at face value, and run the risk of some of the best parts flying over your head, or you can understand that this movie plays on a totally different level. It's very aggressive with it's delivery of gags, then ignores the gag part totally, and then to see how everything nests into everything else so subtly, you almost wonder if the Stupid family are actually of some kind of mad genius savants. They definitely live in a different reality than we do, and the joke of the film is that it actually all works, in a way that isn't forced.See it. Get it from the DVD bargain bin. This film deserves a shot to make you laugh.

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!!

Stanley Stupid (Tom Arnold) and his wife, Joan, like to sleep in bed with their heads under the covers and their feet on the pillows. They have two equally challenged children, Buster and Petunia. One day, Mr. Stupid notices their garbage is gone again....there must be someone stealing it from the curb. He goes off in roller blades after the garbage truck. When he finally gets to the dump, he is startled to learn not only that "other folks garbage" has been stolen, too, but that there is a secret organization meeting at the landfill. He is determined to defeat the garbage nappers of the world, it seems. Meanwhile, Petunia and Buster visit the police station and a Chinese restaurant in search of their parents, for Joan comes up missing, too. Will they bumble their way through their problems? This is just a stupid, stupid movie, with the culprit being the terrible script. The books by Allard and Marshall are hysterical and only a couple of situations from the books ends up in this film. Arnold is actually quite nice as Mr. Stupid and the other cast members try very, very hard to make the film work. The production values are very high, with the dog and cat belonging to the Stupids adding a little oomph to the film. But, it is all for naught, as the plot is wandering and weak. Perhaps, someday, someone will take another stab at translating the very funny Allard books to the big screen. Therefore, if you love to laugh, rent something else while you await a new production and, by all means, go get the books, too. But, stay away from being stupid yourself, as anyone who watches this movie to the end could hardly be called intelligent.