Justice Is Served..."Stir Crazy"

Stir Crazy (1980)

Rated R

Starring Gene Wilder, Richard Pryor, JoBeth Williams, Craig T. Nelson, Barry Corbin, Georg Stanford Brown,

Directed by Sidney Poitier

The Story:

Skip (Wilder) and Harry (Pryor) leave New York and head west to start over. When the duo are accused of robbing a bank, they are tried and convicted most expeditiously to begin serving their time in jail. When Skip shows a propensity to be able to ride a mechanical bull, the warden (Corbin) sees dollar signs in the annual upcoming rodeo contest, and Skip and Harry see a way out of their predicament.

The second of four comedies between Wilder and Pryor, I had decided to rent this one again since I hadn't seen it since probably 1980/81 and remembered very little about it.

Aside from the "that's right, we bad" scene and the dancing birds costumes, that was probably the sum total of my memory.

I watched this a few weeks back, and added the movie to my "To Be Reviewed" pile, probably as a #ThrowbackThursday review.

Then Gene Wilder passed away, and I debated, do I do a R.I.P. Gene tribute piece or not?

To be fair, I enjoyed Wilder's performances in just about anything I saw from him, but sadly, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Silver Streak, and See No Evil, Hear No Evil were pretty much my entire catalog of Wilder's works.

But look at that list again.

That's a pretty impressive list of comedies all on their own merits.

Wilder actually steals most of the scenes he is in, even though it's a lock that Pryor's character is normally the crazier, funnier one in their duos.

Wilder brings an everyman approach to the role. His characters seem honest, unassuming and likable.

So when he rides the mechanical bull like it's nothing, you have no doubt in your mind that he's as happy on that bull as we are to be watching him.

So we've lost another Hollywood great, but he's left behind a pretty good legacy on film.

Even Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, though that movie is just too creepy to really be enjoyable.

:)

So if you're up for a laugh, you'll be hard-pressed to not find one under the Wilder/Pryor catalog.

Though I still have one more that I've never seen.

Hmmm....

Final Grade: Solid B