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"Stir Crazy" once again brings together the comedic talents of Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor. Here, they play Skip and Harry, two hapless slackers in New York who decide to go west to find their fortunes. On the way, they stop in Arizona, and get framed for a bank robbery. This lands them behind bars. This movie is loaded with screwball comedy, and it shows Gene Wilder at his most manic. His methods at pretending to be insane and keeping his spirit from being broken will elicit the big laughs. It all climaxes with a prison rodeo, and an elaborate breakout scheme. "Stir Crazy" is a comedy classic, and reminds us all of the comedy team of Pryor and Wilder.

Stir Crazy isn't anything too difficult to explain. It's simply pure comedy from the talented duo of Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor, directed by the fantastic Sidney Poitier.

Gene and Richard play two friends from New York who are moving to California. They stop over in a town in Arizona, get a job as dancing woodpeckers who do jingles for a bank and then are arrested when two other men steal their costumes and rob said bank.

They then are sent to jail for 125 years by the no-nonsense judge and the film documents their attempt to get used to prison life, pray that their lawyers can prove their innocence and hope Skip (Gene's character) can dominate the prison rodeo.

As I said, there's nothing deep or thought provoking in this film. It's just the zany antics of the two comedic legends. Some strong acting by the cast and excitement are in the offing and the film delivers that in spades.

What was neat to see were all the T.V. stars of past and future in the supporting cast, like Luis Avalos of The Electric Company and Craig T. Nelson of Coach. It was fun to recognize all these old faces.

The only flaw was that the film's writing seemed geared for an easy job of editing for T.V. I wonder if just making it PG would have been better for their box office numbers. Nonetheless, Stir Crazy was the 3rd highest grossing film of 1980.

If you're looking for a real comedy film, a blast from the past, Stir Crazy delivers.

Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor were a great comedy duo. Not all their few collaborations were great, but 'Silver Streak' and 'Stir Crazy' very much were very good, particularly the former. One thing that 'Stir Crazy' improves on than 'Silver Streak' is that Wilder and Pryor get equal screen time and work stronger as a double act.

'Stir Crazy's' second half isn't as good as the first half, a case of the first half being great but the second half having moments but not living up to the promise seen before. The elaborate escape scene stands out well, but generally the second half does suffer from a lack of laughs, which the first half had aplenty, the momentum isn't as snappy and the more serious tone jars a little.

That's pretty much it for the flaws though. 'Stir Crazy' is one of their more visually beautiful films, the setting is great and like a character of its own and there is some truly beautiful and clever photography at the start and in the first half.

Much of the script is hilarious and clever, and avoids being noisy or immature. Pryor's chicken scene is unforgettable, and there is some clever lampooning of prison clichés. The story is slightly contrived at times in the second half but very rarely gets tedious. Sidney Poitier is a surprising choice for director but does a very capable job.

Wilder is both funny and endearing and avoids mugging too much or clowning around. Pryor with more screen time than 'Silver Streak' equal to that of Wilder, works incredibly well with Wilder and while he is the less understated of the two he's not abrasive or annoying.

Overall, uneven but very enjoyable. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Stir Crazy is directed by Sidney Poitier and written by Bruce Jay Friedman. It stars Gene Wilder, Richard Pryor, Miguel Angel Suarez, Georg Stanford Brown, JoBeth Williams and Erland Van Lidth. Plot has Pryor and Wilder as two care free New York buddies who after getting fired from their jobs decide to make their way to Hollywood in search of better fortunes. However, after taking up a gig as promotional woodpeckers for a bank's advertisement drive, they find themselves framed for robbing the bank and sentenced to 125 years each in prison…..

The second pairing of Wilder and Pryor proves to be the best of their output on film. With their chemistry skin tight, film is full of laughs until a big slow down for the last third when the inevitable attempt at a prison break out occurs. Poitier's direction isn't up to anything other than correctly letting his two lead stars strut their stuff. But along with writer Friedman, he has to be accountable for letting the comedy dry up as the film chooses tension over humour which undoubtedly doesn't sit at all right. Still, the first hour is a joy ride, particularly once the guys land in prison, here the comedy reaches its peak and the contrast of the two characters played by Wilder and Pryor really mines the set-up for all is worth. Wilder is oblivious to the hazards of prison life, Pryor is street savvy and fully aware of the perils around every brick walled corner.

Naturally there's a hope on the horizon, which here comes in the form of Rodeo skills, this too brings the laughs, as does the number of prison characters that join in the plot. Notably Van Lidth's monstrous, and monstrously funny, Grossberger. Yes it's a roll call of prison stereotypes, from the top where the morally dubious Warden (Barry Corbin) sits, down to the cons where gays, bullies and gate happy loonies reside. With that, some of it now seems twee and badly out of date. So much so it's a film that is unlikely to garner a new and appreciative audience. However, those who were enamoured and found themselves laughing heartily with it back in the early 80s, should find that like myself, it holds up real well. Kind of like an old friend you call on when you need a pick me up. Hardly a superior comedy classic, then, but a film that rewards its fans on each subsequent revisit. 7/10

After their rendezvous in Silver Streak, Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder team up again. I heard Richard Pryor mentioning this movie in a stand-up routine. He didn't mention it by name because they'd just finished filming. He talked about doing a movie in an Arizona prison and how there were guys in there with triple life. Meaning, if they died and came back they'd still be in prison. LOL!

Harry Monroe (Richard Pryor) and Skip Donahue (Gene Wilder) are two friends who've been fired from their respective small-time jobs in New York. Skip is a playwright and Harry is an actor. They decided that their firings were signs, so they packed up and headed west to make their big break. Their big break came in Arizona-as in their van breaking down. Then, through some criminal deceit and judicial ineptness the two of them end up in prison with 125 year sentences.

This movie, as far as comedy, was better than Silver Streak. Pryor and Wilder both were in fine form. Not only that, prison just seems to make for such funny scenarios. I thoroughly enjoyed Stir Crazy.