Critical Condition

A highly underrated film that is filled with Pryor's subtle brand of caustic humor.

If you have never seen this rent it tonight! Possibly Pryor's Citizen Kane.

Yes, I said it! This film may be slow in the script dept. but follow Pryor's every move and you will laugh your a$# off!! Garret Morris and Randall "Tex" Cobb are highlites to watch for. Bob Saget gets a nod for showing up.

Thanks Richard, you made us laugh, and did so admirably. You will not be missed, thanks to reruns and DVD's.

Never trust the ratings in here, some say from time to time, cause they never reveal what lies beneath some underrated precious jewels and also some overrated classics. "Critical Condition", however, deserves the current negative evaluation, not much because it's a terrible picture, cause it's not in fact. The problem is that the movie is so misguided despite its effective (and few) positive scenes that you suspect the talented people involved in its making were way over their heads in thinking they're creating good comedy. Richard Pryor alone, only in stand-up routines, and we all know it that his films worked better if he had a partner - not even if a brief companion being Pryor and Gene Wilder one of the most interesting duos of comedy. But the supporting cast assembled makes this a little enjoyable, though not going too far.

I believe the setting given here would benefit more a thriller/horror movie than a comedy but if the writers think they can find real humor in it, well, it's their opinion. Pryor is a scam lawyer who is sent to jail after being framed in a suspected deal with some mobsters. Knowing that he's about to get killed in prison, he acts like an insane person during trial much to everyone's belief and sent to treatment on a mental facility for 21 days in order to establish if his crazy or not. But during a huge storm that cuts the power and contacts of the place, he manages to get out of the psychiatric warden and ends up getting confused as an important medical doctor whose arriving was long waited there. Now it's up to this fake doctor to help the staff of this chaotic hospital filled with regular patients (who comes up with this stuff, a mental hospital glued next to a regular facility?), managing his best and worst in a place with almost no electricity, with its disappearing administrator and with a dangerous criminal (Joe Dallesandro) on the loose, and just like him also trying to get away from there.

Half an hour goes by without any laughs, and almost with no understanding of what those loud characters are saying for the most part. Only when the absurd starts to take place is that movie progresses, gets a little involving yet eternally confusing and lacking in substance. But already too late. And what Michael Apted was doing with this comedy? He's trustworthy directing drama and action flicks; his direction here feels very uninspired, more like "in it for the money" (and I bet no one got paid all that much). I'm not recommending "Critical Condition" but if you wanna see it for yourself there's room for enjoyment in scenes like the "Apocalypse Now" parody with Pryor putting a helicopter inside of the hospital to generate energy in the building; the great presence of Rachel Ticotin as the substitute administrator, a fine dramatic effort in showing how important decision must be during troubled conditions; Bob Dishy finally getting a noteworthy and extended role as the doctor who puts pressure on everybody including Pryor. Randall 'Tex' Cobb, Joe Mantegna, Bob Saget, Sylvia Miles Jon Polito and a few others have fine roles, the best they could get.

Well, final diagnosis: not worthy of much attention, suffers from a severe case of lack of great humor, and it's almost a waste of time. The medication for it can be found in all other Pryor's movies. This one is just wrong. 4/10

Confidence man Richard Pryor is caught with dangerous racketeers and is found guilty of the same crimes. To delay, he pretends to be crazy. He is sent to the psychiatric ward of a hospital for appraisal. While he is trying to escape, a storm strikes, the hospital is cut off from the mainland, and the power goes. Because he is wearing a lab coat, people think he is a doctor and look to him to take charge.

It's not the best comedy Pryor ever starred in, nor anywhere near the best movie Michael Apted directed.. He didn't write the script and has only one scene of wild improvization. Nonetheless, the role is a good fit for him and despite the foreordained ending, there are good moments. Bob Dishy is excellent as a surgeon who starts out thinking of nothing but legal liability. Bob Saget is very good as a resident lacking all self confidence, and Wesley Snipes can be spotted in an early, tiny role.

Basically a vehicle for Pryor, this is a rough and somewhat ugly movie, disfigured in part by a surfeit of swearing in a film that doesn't need it and a bunch of vaguely unsympathetic characters. The central plot – a framed man who has claimed insanity has to pretend to be a doctor during a blackout at a hospital – is intriguing if somewhat convoluted. As a twist on the fish-out-of-water story, it has much potential, in the same way that Woody Allen's "Hollywood Ending" has much potential in its premise of a suddenly-blind director having to go through the entire shoot without letting anyone know he is blind. Just as with that movie, "Critical Condition" mainly fails to capitalize on its potential, and the film is oddly slow-moving and genuine laughs are hard to come by.

Pryor does well to work with the underdeveloped material, and Rachel Ticotin adds solid support in the role of the hospital administrator. There is a nice addition of a subplot involving crooks roaming the hospital to add to the tension of the staff and patients trying to survive the power outage, and the film as a whole is at least watchable, but not very memorable. It does not have widespread appeal as a comedy/thriller and should probably be best recommended for Pryor fans only.

During an interview with Johnny Carson to promote this movie, Pryor mentioned that he had a 20 lb. weight loss and couldn't gain it back. A battery of medical tests found no problem. The next day, he lost the vision in his right eye. We now know that this was the beginning of his MS.