See No Evil, Hear No Evil

I love this movie and I love Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder. On the face of it they're both so utterly unfunny that they come full circle on the crapometer right back round to funny. You have to hand it to them. These guys have made several films together, all of which are arguably quite rubbish, yet I always wizz myself laughing whenever I watch any of them. By the way, for all you Wilder/Pryor slapstick-duo film fan freaks out there, I stole that amazingly funny quote in my summary from the back of the Stir Crazy box. So sue me if I want to use the best line I've ever read on the back of a video box ever, anywhere in the whole wide world. You know, you should always judge a film by it's cover, and even more so by the description on the back. How could you not fall over, doubled-up in uncontrollable fits of laughter, face contorting, body spasming in the video store when you see Pryor/Wilder on the front cover of a video, one pretending he can't see, the other pretending he can't hear. Then you read the back cover and you nearly die laughing before you reach the counter due to the over-use of words such as, crazy, zany, nuts, wacko, crackers, mad-cap, caper, loony, escapades, hilarious, romp etc. etc. I mean, if you've ever seen this film, you'll know what a total load of lies that is, but they're real funny lies. All this and you have not even left the video store. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but any film that has normal, well adjusted members of the film watching community thrashing about on the floor of a video store, really should have cleaned up at the oscars. Ok, so I exaggerate. Or do I. Come on then. Lets hear some Pryor/ Wilder collaboration appreciation.

"See no evil, Hear no evil"; a perfect title for an hilarious script that was brilliantly portrayed by Gene Wilder (Dave) and Richard Pryer (Wally). The tale of two "handicapped" (as Dave remarks at the end of the film, "I'm not handicapped, I have you") individuals who come together to be ones eyes. The hilarious duo get caught in a crime they did not commit and do everything in thier power to rid them of the accusation.

I have to say that I really enjoyed this movie tremendously. I remember watching it when it first came out in 1989 and thinking, "wow...what a funny flick". Being only 11 at the time, I didn't really understand the hilarity of all the jokes that was in it. The reason why I watch it again now... 13 years later is because of one Kevin Spacey (Who plays Kirgo, the crook). I'm in the process of collecting all of his movies... and this one just happens to be one in that list. I'm glad that it is. I find the script to be wonderfull, the acting brilliant and the time spent watching it a definate fun time. Great movie!!

See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989)

*** (out of 4)

Richard Pryor plays Wally, a blind man. Gene Wilder plays Dave, a deaf man. The two meet and quickly become friends as it seems they complete one another but they are accused of a murder and must take off and try to solve the mystery of who the real killers are.

SEE NO EVIL, HEAR NO EVIL was the third of four films between Pryor and Wilder and I must say that it very well might be their best. If you go back and read some of the original reviews for the movie, it somewhat took a beating by many who said blind and deaf people shouldn't be made fun of. I agree with this but at the same time both actors turn in wonderful performances and I would argue that they say a lot about being handicapped and show both the blind and the deaf in a positive manor.

Of course, this is a comedy and it does feature Pryor and Wilder so one should expect jokes and there are a ton of them here and I'd say that the majority of them work. The comic genius of both actors is on full display here just by the way they bounce off one another whether it be a physical joke or just a matter of timing. Just take a look at the opening sequence where the two bump into one another and a fight almost breaks out even though they are unaware of the other one. The timing between the actors are just flawless here.

I'd also argue that both of them are very believable in their parts. This is especially true for Pryor who gives one of the best examples of a blind person that I've seen. Wilder also deserves a lot of credit for how he played the deaf man. Joan Severance, Alan North and Kevin Spacey are also good in their supporting parts. The director keeps the film moving at a very nice pace and as I said, the majority of the jokes work extremely well.

There's no question that the success of SEE NO EVIL, HEAR NO EVIL falls back on Pryor and Wilder. Both turns in fabulous performances and make this film what it is.

Wally Karue (Richard Pryor) is blind and he doesn't like it. Dave Lyons (Gene Wilder) is deaf, and runs a newspaper stand. Wally gets a job from Dave, and quickly becomes fast friends. One day, a man comes in. After an argument with Eve (Joan Severance), she kills him. Both Wally and Dave only partly witness the incident. The incompetent police arrests the duo but then they escape. Eve and Kirgo (Kevin Spacey) are after the duo for a valuable coin.

Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder are always fun together. The gimmick allows the guys to have some hilarious back and forth. The mug shot scene was gut busting funny. While the joking around is funny, the caper doesn't work as well. In the end, the movie works as an excuse for the guys to go crazy.

Just saw this movie again recently, and it still gets me laughing like crazy. This was the first Pryor/Wilder movie I ever saw, when it first came out on video, and it eventually got me to the video store several more times to see their other movies. Although all of them got me laughing (especially Silver Streak), this one was by far the funniest. It's definitely an underrated movie. I only wish Pryor and Wilder had done more together.