Review of Stir Crazy (1980) by Stuart K — 28 Apr 2014
Directed by Sidney Poitier, who had moved from acting into directing during the 1970's, and found success with Uptown Saturday Night (1974) and Let's Do It Again (1975), he took up this comedy written Bruce Jay Friedman (Splash (1984)), and reunited the comedy duo from Silver Streak (1976), who had sparked off each other well.
It was a good choice, and it makes for a daft and engaging buddy-buddy film. In New York, store detective Skip Donahue (Gene Wilder) and waiter/aspiring actor Harry Monroe (Richard Pryor) are fired from their jobs for various incidents.
Skip is an aspiring writer, and suggests he and Harry move on out to Hollywood to find fame. Along the way, their van breaks down in Arizona, so they take a job promoting a bank, however they get framed for a bank robbery they didn't commit, and they're sentenced to 125 years in jail.
They struggle to adapt to jail life, and they try to act insane to get transferred, but that doesn't work. However, when Skip passes a test on a mechanical bull, he's entered into a prison rodeo, and Skip and Harry plan an escape.
It's a daft comedy, but Wilder and Pryor were at the height of their fame at the time, and they're a brilliant double act. It's a product of it's time, but it struck a chord with cinema audiences, and it became the third highest grossing film of 1980.
But, it would be another 9 years before Wilder and Pryor teamed up again.
This review of Stir Crazy (1980) was written by Stuart K on 28 Apr 2014.
Stir Crazy has generally received positive reviews.
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