Review of Stir Crazy (1980) by Alexander Z — 28 Aug 2014

Most of the laughs in this comedy come from Gene Wilder's hopelessly optimistic belief that everyone he meets has some good just waiting to be brought out of them. That he succeeds again and again produces even more laughs. Sadly, Pryor play second fiddle to him here, having many good lines, but lacking the physical comedy to back a lot of them up.

Where this movie kinda goes off the rails is in the last third, which is mostly a rodeo scene. By this point, the film has dragged on a bit too long, and it slows to a glacial pace here in order to overemphasize an almost heist-like plot which is a bizarre transition from the first half of the film as a buddy comedy.

I liked Stir Crazy, but I'd rather have just watched two hours of Wilder and Pryor riffing at each other. Sad to say, but the plot gets in the way of the characters.