OK this post is also from the 80s, the very early 80s, 1980 to be exact as it will cover Stir Crazy, the comedy hit starring the comedy duo of Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor. And with that let's do the usual and take a look at this mother....
So the plot is pretty simple as it follows two New Yorkers, a writer, Skip Donohue (Wilder) and Harry Monroe (Pryor) who decide to leave New York and head for Hollywood. On their journey they stop off in Arizona and they get a job at a bank doing a song and dance routine dressed as a couple of woodpeckers. On their lunch break however, two men steal their outfits and perform the routine and then proceed to rob the bank. As Skip and Harry return to the bank they are immediately arrested and are soon sentenced to serve a 125 jail sentence. The two men start to serve their jail sentence but they find life very tough on the inside, and after failing to attempt insanity, they end up making friends with inmates, Jesus Ramirez (Miguel Angel Suarez) a robber, and Rory Schultebrand (Georg Stanford Brown) a gay man who killed his stepfather. After three months of their sentence, Skip and Harry are taken to see the warden, Walter Beatty (Barry Corbin) who has Skip ride a mechanical bull, which Skip rides successfully at maximum speed. The warden impressed by Skip's performance on the bull decides he will use him to represent their prison in an annual rodeo.
Skip however soon learns the truth about the rodeo from Jesus and Rory, who tell them it is in fact a corrupt operation run by Beatty and another rival prison warden and the money from the rodeo goes straight to the wardens as a result. Jesus and Rory also tell Skip to hold out on the warden if he get's picked in order to work a deal for themselves, which Skip does. As a result, Beatty has Skip punished by putting him on a gruelling work detail, chaining him up and even placing him solitary confinement, as well as sharing a cell with the most feared prison inmate, a mass murderer called Grossberger (Erlan Van Lidth). However none of this breaks Skip's spirit, and he eventually succeeds in getting his deal over to Beatty, where he asks to pick his own team and get a larger cell. Meanwhile Skip and Harry's defence lawyer Len Garber (Joel Brooks) along with his law partner, Meredith (Jo Beth Williams) try to prove their innocence as they track the leads of the two men who actually robbed the bank. And as the film nears its end, Skip and Harry attend the prison rodeo, where Skip must ride and while this is going the others must try and plan their escape and make a break for it....
Stir Crazy is generally considered to be the best of the Wilder and Pryor collaborations on screen, however for me I think its a close second rather than the best as See No Evil, Hear No Evil is better. Regardless of that, Stir Crazy is still a very entertaining and funny film and the natural on screen chemistry that Wilder and Pryor share is what makes the film work so well. The film recieved mixed reviews on its release although it was a commercial success, its reputation has improved over the years since then (I think!).
Which brings me (quicker than usual!) onto the performances starting with Gene Wilder who is pretty good in his role as the overbearingly chirpy and open minded Skip Donohue and he get's some good laughs in the film and good lines. As an example is the scene where Skip in prison first lays his eyes on Grossberger, who cuts a large frightening figure, who aggressively cuts through the inmates tables to get a salt cellar and Skip says "I wonder what triggered all that violence?? I know what it is, no one has ever simply just sat down and talked to that man". And as Skip approaches Grossberg and mildly says "Hello!" Grossberger stands up and screams at him and Skip runs back to his seat and says "I think I'll wait till after he's had a nap!". Another funny scene is where he tries to befriend the two rednecks in a bar, who ultimately end up robbing the bank, as the two men use a punching bag, Skip butts in and tries to make chat with them, unsuccessfully, so instead he uses the punching bag, and one of the men stops him and punches the bag off its stand into overhead lights. Another funny moment comes during the scenes where the warden tries to "straighten out" Skip and has him placed in solitary confinement, after being released he says to the hard assed deputy (Craig T. Nelson) "Just one more day, please. I was just getting into myself!". And the scene where he turns down the warden's offer to be in the rodeo and he says "My mother was a veternarian. I couldn't have anything to do with the exploitation of animals, she'd turned over in her grave!" and he proceeds to have an imaginary converstion with his mother "What I said no, ma! Are you crazy, I said no! I have witnesses! All right we'll talk about it in my cell!". And another moment that is funny is where Skip and Harry wake up in their cell together and given their extremely cramped confines of the cell, they end up trying to use the same urinal to pee and as they do, Skip says to Harry "You're peeing on me!!".
Richard Pryor is also great in his role as the down to earth and rather highly strung, Harry Monroe, who follows Skip's lead on their road to Hollywood, which ultimately turns sour, as they take a wrong and end up in prison. Pryor has plenty of funny moments in the film such as the scene where having just been arrested and taken to a police station, Harry starts to strut his way into the holding cells and pretends to act tough and he says to Skip "You gotta get back, Jack. If you ain't bad, you gonna get fucked!". Also in his first scene where he works as a kitchen waiter in a mansion and one of the staff unwittingly puts half of his container of hash into the food, thinking it was oregano! And Harry looks on bemused and says "Jesus! You cooked half my stash!!". Another funny moment is in the holding cell where a mean looking criminal approaches Skip and Harry, who sobs onto Skip's shoulder. And the criminal says "You one short son of a bitch, ain't you?" and Harry sobs in reply "Yeah I'm a short son of a bitch! My father was a short son of a bitch, too. And we had a little brother and we couldn't even see him!". And later during their prison sentence, when Harry tells Skip about Jesus and Rory's plan to bust out, Harry says "I don't think I can take 30 years in this place and I know you can't. We gotta get the fuck out of here!". And another funny moment is in the scene where one of the inmates, Blade (Charles Weldon) while at the prison stables tells Harry how to handle a bull, which is in the stalls, and there is one word which will drive it crazy and he leaves Harry to figure out the word. And Harry goes through all sorts of things such as "Rumplestilskin" and ends up just saying "Shit!" and the bull goes mad and charges after him. Another funny comes after Skip and Harry after a heavy day's work detail outside, Harry shaikly walks into his cell and collapses in a heap and in the morning, they both wake up side by side in a heap. And Harry tries to get ready by putting his leg into Skip's remaining trouser leg, as Skip has his other leg in the other one, and Harry screams "I can't feel my other leg!!". And then there is the scene where Skip and Harry first enter the prison cell area and they try and fake insanity in order to get out of it. And Harry first clams down Skip and then Harry goes crazy and tears off his prison shirt and yells "Aggghhh!!! I can't take it!" before Skips calms him down and they both spring back up and trot to their cells.
In the supporting roles Barry Corbin is very good as the prison warden Beatty, and given his Southern drawl, Corbin is perfect for the role and he does a fine job with it. Corbin's best line in the film comes when after Skip turns down Beatty's decision to have him ride in the rodeo, he says "That boy is confused. Straight him out!". Craig T. Nelson also makes an impression as the hard assed and intimidating deputy Wilson, and he has some good lines in the film, especially in his first scene where he sharply tells Skip to "Get on the BULL!!" i.e. the mechnical bull. Also later on where Skip comes back and makes a deal with the warden to do the rodeo and he asks for a bigger cell with better ventilation, Wilson says "What's the matter has Grossberger been fartin on ya?!".
Goerg Stanford Brown also is very good in his role as Rory, the gay inmate who takes a shine to Harry, and he helps them bust out of jail. Brown has some good moments in the film such as the scene where Rory places his hand on Harry's, who smacks it away and he asks "Why did you kill your stepdad anyway?!" and Rory says "For insulting my new fur jacket and slapping my hand!" and Harry panics and takes Rory's hand and places it back on his. Also there is the scene while they are out in the prison yard, Rory points out the hardened inamte, Blade, to Harry and says "He's the man I'll get your cheese burger from. For some reason I make him uneasy!". And lastly I will mention JoBeth Williams who is quite good as Skip and Harry's defence lawyer's partner. And during one of their meetings in prison, Skip asks her would she ever become romantically involved with a prisoner and she says "Absolutely not!".
As for the direction Sidney Poitier does a fine job with the film as it moves along at a nice leisurely pace and despite the harsh prison environment, he keeps the tone light hearted and allows for Wilder and Pryor's antics to work well. The film's music score however by Tom Scott remains one of the film's weaker points as it sounds pretty dated and is a bit bland and generic sounding for such a film, but it serves it purpose regardless.
So flaws does Stir Crazy have some???? Yep its not a perfect film, for starters the film's plot is wafer thin and there's not much story in it all, as it serves merely a vehicle for Wilder and Pryor to work their gags, which no doubt would be largely improvised. Another thing is the ending is a bit daft as despite Skip and Harry busting out of jail, Meredith and Len turn up to tell them they are really free as they caught the real bank robbers. However they are both still guilty of doing a prison break! And that hardly makes them look innocent does it?? Regardless of their innocence in the robbery they have still committed an offence in breaking out! I also had a bit of a problem with Skip's character as well as he really is a bit of annoying dick, as well as a bit crazy as he impulsively tries to make friends with everyone, particularly people he should have no business even trying to make friends with, such as the two rednecks! And in the end if you look at the events of the film, it really all started with Skip's decision to try and befriend the two rednecks in the bar, who as a result later follow them, watch them do their song and dance routine, and later take their clothes, do the routine and rob the bank! So basically in short, while he was innocent of the robbery, its all Skip's fault, as if he was more cautious with whom he chose to socialise with, none of this would have happened. What a fanny! I also thought the film's intro song, titled Stir Crazy funnily enough, is a bit duff and annoying as Gene Wilder sings over it, it doesn't really lend well to the beginning of the film.
But despite those niggles, Stir Crazy is still an engaging and funny comedy, which shows the comedy duo of Wilder and Pryor near its best.
And with that I shall sign off right there.
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