Review of Silver Streak (1976) by Lisa T — 04 Nov 2007

This film was on TV Saturday evening. The first half is a very clever and funny comedy/murder mystery...on a train. Gene Wilder's character is really sweet. There's a wonderful running gag where he keeps getting thrown off the train, yells "son of a bitch!" and then has to find a way to catch up with the train to get back on.

I really enjoyed the film's serendipitous moments, such as when Wilder's character gets thrown off the train and then has a chance meeting with an eccentric female farmer who flies him in a tiny propeller plane to the nearest town where the train happens to be passing through.

Sadly, the later part of the film dissolves into a bad action movie. People fumble with guns and it all gets a bit silly. Richard Pryor makes a late appearance but is great fun to watch in every scene he's in.

All in all, good fun for a lazy evening at home.