The Stupids

Plot synopsis:
Joan and Stanley Stupid are convinced they are victims of a conspiracy that steals their garbage every week and in an attempt to uncover this, Stanley follows the garbage truck to the city dump where he stumbles across Lieutenant Neidermeyer who is selling contraband weaponry to a group of terrorists. Neidermeyer believes Stanley to be a secret agent who has uncovered their operation and orders him assassinated, and after several attempts on his life result in him unintentionally killing his would be assassins, Stanley narrowly escapes a carbomb and is presumed dead by Neidermeyer.
Meanwhile, the children, Buster and Petunia Stupid, believe their parents have been kidnapped by a Chinese restaurant and go in search of them. They reunite with their mother Joan, who explains her theory that the police have turned against them and are responsible for their missing father.
Once all the family are reunited back home, Joan tells the children about their father's last job for the postal service where he discovered all the letters being marked "return to sender", but was fired before he could find out who "Mr. Sender" was. Stanley tells the family about the conspiracy theory he has invented that combines all the ideas the family's overactive imaginations have created, including the "Evil Mr. Sender" plotting to steal all the mail and garbage from America and employing the police to kidnap anybody who discovers his scheme. When they find local museum curator Charles Sender in the phone book they set off in pursuit, ultimately tracking him to a television studio where Stanley appears on a talk-show and is spotted by Niedermeyer who has him kidnapped and brought to his army base.
While being held hostage at the army base Stanley overhears the address of the warehouse being used for the illegal arms deals. Following a fluke escape the entire Stupid family head to the warehouse where they expect to find Sender and the stolen mail. The family confront Neidermeyer and his terrorist associates in a slapstick battle, resulting in some large explosions that cause the police to investigate the warehouse. Stanley offers what he perceives to be heroic advice about how Sender can repent his evil ways but Sender takes them as road directions and both men are pleased with the outcome of the conversation.
The family arrives home and resolving some subplots including a delivery driver finally getting the order Joan placed to them and saving them from Neidermeyer one last time in the process, as well as some extraterrestrial pilots attempting to kill Stanley who, in his usual manner, unwittingly dispatches them.

Tags: cult, stupid

Review:
"The Stupids" is one of my favorite movies, and I've seen close to 800 in the last few years.
It's full of scenes that deserve to be classic, like the "I'm My Own Grandpa" musical number, the Stupids' encounter with The Lloyd, and "to be a bush, you've got to think like a bush..." It's worth watching more than once, for sure.
He gets away with murder here, whereas Brian Levant who persists in trying to offer disastrously unfunny "family comedy" like THE FLINTSTONES simply falls over his own Director's chair.I just about wet myself the first time I heard Arnold break out into his musical monologue  "I AM MY OWN GRANDPA" That has to be one of the funniest things I have ever seen on the big screen.
Now I'm not big on Tom Arnold as an actor but he definitely makes the perfect Stanley Stupid.
If you are looking for a movie parents can watch with thier kids THE STUPIDS really isnt a bad choice.
My favorite scene is when Tom Arnold is trying to hide as a bush and decides to hide as a bush he must think like a bush.
If you rate this movie a 1, you either are trying to hate it or don't have a sense of humor.It's not high art, but the deadpan acting is spot on, and if you really look at it, the writing in this script is far more complex and well crafted than most "gross out" comedies people seem to applaud.
I like watching dumb people do stupid things; it makes me feel better about myself.
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.
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.
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..
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.
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" is an atrocious, dim-witted film with absolutely no artistic merit whatsoever, and is a denigration to a director like John Landis.
And that's what makes it great.In order to appreciate "The Stupids", you have to keep in mind a little-known, but very true maxim spoken by director Abo Kyrou: "I urge you to learn to look at bad films, they are so often sublime." In order for any film to work, the film must establish and follow it's own logic, and if it does so convincingly and sincerely, then it's actually possible for the film to work.
For example, when you watch "Freddy Got Fingered" as a traditional gross-out comedy, it's complete and utter garbage; when you watch it with the understanding that it's actually a neo-surrealist comedy, it's brilliant.It works with good movies too.
The point being that a movie like this makes sense if you look at it with the right perspective.
If you have the right frame of mind when you watch this movie (and NO I DO NOT MEAN STONED, I'm gonna put that to bed right now), you can actually enjoy the movie for the dumb, cheap, pointless slapstick late-80s/early-90s-style farce that it is.The defenders and haters of this film are right: It's STUPID, and that's the point.
A "bad" movie would actually do this and fail to use that logic properly; bad movie are bad because they make it up as they go along, whereas movies like "The Stupids" knows where it's going, what it's doing and why from the beginning.I can't defend the film from an artistic standpoint, which is why I give it such a low rating.
I got it right away, and I pity those who don't.I'll admit I was drawn to this movie because of Christopher Lee's delicious cameo appearance (hearing him say "Release the drive bee!" would have been worth the rental price even if I hated this film), but was amazed to find that, aside from the TV Studio Applause Sign segment with Jenny McCarthy, I was never bored, and never disappointed.
And the movie doesn't pretend to be anything else: a STUPID comedy about STUPID characters and instead of apologizing for it, it enjoys itself.And that's exactly why it works..
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.
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!.
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.
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.
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.
I've seen this movie several times, and it's still as funny as ever.
I've discovered one thing about comedies--the more people there are who hate them and think they aren't funny, the better I like them.
It's been a long time since I've seen it, but the jokes are NOT funny, the plot is painfully forseeable, calling the main characters stupid is to vastly upgrade their intelligence...uggh!
I don't even know why I ever wanted to watch it, but remember if you see this movie: DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU.PS Tom Arnold's character sings a song in this movie called "I'm My Own Grandfather." Nuff said..
"The Stupids."  Now, it's not the worst movie ever, not by a long shot, but one could say that it is not funny.
A great family film with some moments that would be classic, if properly advertised.Tom Arnold does a horrible job, but that doesn't mean a thing, because it just adds to the greatness of the movie!
I absolutely find this movie to be very entertaining, funny, and full of great lines!
Winning the Razzie Award for Worst Actor must have been a dream come true for Tom Arnold and he's sure at his best in this very movie!
I bet we can all relate to some of those characters in the movie and at some time in our lives we have done some strange and hilarious things as well.
I do not know much about the director of The Stupids John Landis, what other movies had he done?
I still can't believe it didn't get good ratings, like another movie shown here Rat Race, we loved that as well, goodness what do movie critics want in movies, do they want them to entertain us which The Stupids did, and I for one was entertained, sometimes I think the movie critics are too harsh.
For instance everyone else other than the Stupid family act like normal intelligent people yet there are also goofy space aliens and cartoon animals and not to mention the fact that the Stupids actually exist.
His talent and versatility has been proven many times in films such as True Lies, Carpool, Big Bully, Austin Powers - International Man Of Mystery, and of course The Stupids.
The Stupids is one of those movies that about 97% of the people in the world will think is, well, stupid.
To see such a great villainous actor, star from the old Hammer films all the way up to Lord of the Rings, act so seriously as the sinister man plotting to steal the world's garbage is simply hilarious.Yes, very many of the scenes are weak, but they aren't so bad if you remember not to take this film seriously at all..
She "recommended" 'The Stupids', as the worst movie she had ever seen, so we decided to go for it...
This is one of those movies that nobody wants to see because it looks so stupid.
Just watch that part where Tom Arnold pretends to be a bush and if you don't laugh you must be feelin uptight, cause it's so stupid its so funny.
Tom Arnold once again amply demonstrates that his only talent is wasting production money.I think the only reason The Stupids hasn't appeared on the 100 worst films of all time is that only 20 or so people will admit to watching this garbage.
This type of film's target audience isn't everyone, its for people who enjoy movies like 'Strange Brew' Bob & Doug McKenzie, 'Dumb & Dumber', 'Animal House' even the Three Stooges though they are more slapstick type humor but fit into the genre of ridiculous stupid humor.If you couldn't stand or absolutely hated this movie you could of easily saved yourself from it by realizing Tom Arnold was in the starring role, that alone should have raised a red flag for you if you don't like this type of 'stupid' humor.
Stupid humor like one of my favorite movies 'Strange Brew' is in order in life now and then.
Christopher Lee's character was also funny and ludicrous as most of this movie is.
Not sure who could have nailed Stanley Stupid any better than Tom Arnold, he fits the role very well.
This movie is basically non-stop hilarious idiotic one-liners and absurd vaudeville comedy like scenes.
It killed the cat and hit it repeatedly with a stick, and urinated on it, and yet the cat didn't suffer half of what it would have if it had decided to just watch some of The Stupids.The movie fails to be funny in every single way.
Nothing is worse than a horrible movie with a decent budget.I have a great sense of humor, but my word, what an absolutely terrible waste of film and waste of time.
Must admit I thought this movie was pretty dumb (stupid?).
I see lots of kids and family movies and this is not one of my favorites - although the scene in the planetarium with Lloyd was pretty funny.
The plot: The Stupids (it's their family name) were stolen of their precious garbage, and Tom Arnold decides to follow the Garbage Truck to it's HQ, which surprisingly turned out to be the city dump.
Okay folks, turn your brains off, watch this film with ZERO expectations, and perhaps you'll enjoy it like I did.
It takes good writers to make watching stupidity an enjoyable experience, and there's no way around it, this movie was fun.
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".
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.
I have never seen a family act or do the things that the Stupid family did in this movie.
Therefore if you want a good laugh, watch this movie because you will be surprised at the adventures that this family does..
This was not a hilarious film but it was one of those "campy" movies you just have to stick in the VCR every now and then just to get a cheap laugh.
This movie was so stupid at some points you can't help but laugh.
stupid film to get some laughs.
If you've got young kids, like we do, and are up for a bit of harmless total, complete silliness, you may find that this STUPID film starts to grow on you a bit.It'll never win an Oscar...
But there are a few decent jokes, and it's harmless fare for the kids.There aren't that many movies around these days that aren't full of cuss words and innuendo, where parents can just stick the film in the VCR and feel like their kids aren't being bombarded by the seamy side of life.
but after a day or two, I find myself saying, "I might be willing to watch that stupid movie with the kids again sometime.".
Some things worked and were a bit amusing, most of it just made ya want to blow your brains out.There were two genuinely funny moments in the film:1) The Grandpa song.
all of which are far worse than The Stupids.This is a movie which is just so silly, so incredibly over the top that it ends up being funny.
I think The Stupids is a REALLY funny movie!
I don't care what other people say I like the "stupid-funny" type of movie and The Stupids was great.
If you like humor, you'd love this movie.
Tom Arnold proves that it pays to be stupid with this movie.
Not the greatest but good for those who wish to laugh.A great family show about working together and doing the right thing the wrong way.
I can't help myself liking this stupid movie.
they made the people in this movie a little too stupid,to the point a lot of stuff they do isn't funny.
Arnold is actually quite nice as Mr. Stupid and the other cast members try very, very hard to make the film work.
But, stay away from being stupid yourself, as anyone who watches this movie to the end could hardly be called intelligent..
As I was watching I couldn't stop rubbing my eyes, not believing what I was seeing and trying to decide if I should laugh or cry, as *REALLY STUPID* stuff were going on on the screen, and people were leaving the theater.According to the leading characters, time travel is accomplished, just enter any museum and you will actually travel to the past.
It's painful to watch so many actors try so hard to be funny, and completely fail.I would, first of all, like to commend the rocket scientist who decided to introduce a plotline about international terrorists into a movie for children.
I've noticed that one reviewer commented on the "classic" scenes such as 'I'm My Own Grandpa' or something like that...well I just saw this supposed masterpiece of a scene and it is pathetic.I can understand that this movie is being deliberately stupid but that is exactly what bugs me.
This is surprisingly very funny, it's just got that stupid bit of humor you can't help but love, Tom Arnold was great!.
This is surprisingly very funny, it's just got that stupid bit of humor you can't help but love, Tom Arnold was great!.
All the characters are very funny and wacky, and the story while bizarre is very good, plus the whole Stupid family was just awesome.
Arnold and Petunia had good chemistry together, and one of my favorite moments in this is when Joan Stupid and the kids, think they have gone back in time into the Dinosaur ages, plus I think this is one of John Landis's most underrated films.
This is surprisingly very funny, it's just got that stupid bit of humor you can't help but love, Tom Arnold was great I highly recommend it.
This is a funny broad farcical comedy movie, with some interesting set-ups and great one-liners.<Spoiler warning!>My favorite bit is when Tom Arnold's Mr Stupid is riding on the back of a truck and it stops at a gas station.