Stir Crazy

Enjoyed this film starring Gene Wilder, (Skip Donahue) and Richard Pryor, (Harry Monroe) who are arrested and sent to prison for a bank robbery which they did not commit. Skip & Harry are from the East and are sent to a prison in the Western part of the country and they have to face some very difficult situations in the prison and just can't seem to adjust to prison life. One day the warden of the prison finds out that Skip has a great deal of experience in riding broncos in rodeo's and asks him to participate in a Western rodeo which is going to be presented to the prisoners and general public. There is some romance which goes on between a girl named Meredith, (Jo Beth Williams) who is attracted to Skip Donahue and obtains a lawyer for him to be able to investigate this false prison sentence and get him free. There is plenty of action with Skip & Harry trying to run away from bulls who are out to attack them and lots of great comedy.

Stir Crazy isn't anything too difficult to explain. It's simply pure comedy from the talented duo of Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor, directed by the fantastic Sidney Poitier.

Gene and Richard play two friends from New York who are moving to California. They stop over in a town in Arizona, get a job as dancing woodpeckers who do jingles for a bank and then are arrested when two other men steal their costumes and rob said bank.

They then are sent to jail for 125 years by the no-nonsense judge and the film documents their attempt to get used to prison life, pray that their lawyers can prove their innocence and hope Skip (Gene's character) can dominate the prison rodeo.

As I said, there's nothing deep or thought provoking in this film. It's just the zany antics of the two comedic legends. Some strong acting by the cast and excitement are in the offing and the film delivers that in spades.

What was neat to see were all the T.V. stars of past and future in the supporting cast, like Luis Avalos of The Electric Company and Craig T. Nelson of Coach. It was fun to recognize all these old faces.

The only flaw was that the film's writing seemed geared for an easy job of editing for T.V. I wonder if just making it PG would have been better for their box office numbers. Nonetheless, Stir Crazy was the 3rd highest grossing film of 1980.

If you're looking for a real comedy film, a blast from the past, Stir Crazy delivers.

After their rendezvous in Silver Streak, Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder team up again. I heard Richard Pryor mentioning this movie in a stand-up routine. He didn't mention it by name because they'd just finished filming. He talked about doing a movie in an Arizona prison and how there were guys in there with triple life. Meaning, if they died and came back they'd still be in prison. LOL!

Harry Monroe (Richard Pryor) and Skip Donahue (Gene Wilder) are two friends who've been fired from their respective small-time jobs in New York. Skip is a playwright and Harry is an actor. They decided that their firings were signs, so they packed up and headed west to make their big break. Their big break came in Arizona-as in their van breaking down. Then, through some criminal deceit and judicial ineptness the two of them end up in prison with 125 year sentences.

This movie, as far as comedy, was better than Silver Streak. Pryor and Wilder both were in fine form. Not only that, prison just seems to make for such funny scenarios. I thoroughly enjoyed Stir Crazy.

"Stir Crazy" once again brings together the comedic talents of Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor. Here, they play Skip and Harry, two hapless slackers in New York who decide to go west to find their fortunes. On the way, they stop in Arizona, and get framed for a bank robbery. This lands them behind bars. This movie is loaded with screwball comedy, and it shows Gene Wilder at his most manic. His methods at pretending to be insane and keeping his spirit from being broken will elicit the big laughs. It all climaxes with a prison rodeo, and an elaborate breakout scheme. "Stir Crazy" is a comedy classic, and reminds us all of the comedy team of Pryor and Wilder.

Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor were a great comedy duo. Not all their few collaborations were great, but 'Silver Streak' and 'Stir Crazy' very much were very good, particularly the former. One thing that 'Stir Crazy' improves on than 'Silver Streak' is that Wilder and Pryor get equal screen time and work stronger as a double act.

'Stir Crazy's' second half isn't as good as the first half, a case of the first half being great but the second half having moments but not living up to the promise seen before. The elaborate escape scene stands out well, but generally the second half does suffer from a lack of laughs, which the first half had aplenty, the momentum isn't as snappy and the more serious tone jars a little.

That's pretty much it for the flaws though. 'Stir Crazy' is one of their more visually beautiful films, the setting is great and like a character of its own and there is some truly beautiful and clever photography at the start and in the first half.

Much of the script is hilarious and clever, and avoids being noisy or immature. Pryor's chicken scene is unforgettable, and there is some clever lampooning of prison clichés. The story is slightly contrived at times in the second half but very rarely gets tedious. Sidney Poitier is a surprising choice for director but does a very capable job.

Wilder is both funny and endearing and avoids mugging too much or clowning around. Pryor with more screen time than 'Silver Streak' equal to that of Wilder, works incredibly well with Wilder and while he is the less understated of the two he's not abrasive or annoying.

Overall, uneven but very enjoyable. 8/10 Bethany Cox