Pas nous, pas nous

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.

In the final Gene Wilder-Richard Pryor pairing, they play a deaf man and a blind man who jointly witness a murder. Most of the humor comes from their schemes to prove their innocence, but probably the best scene is Pryor impersonates a doctor. How gullible can people be?! Also appearing is a young Kevin Spacey as one of the criminals. He and Joan Severance make the perfect criminal pair.

OK, so "See No Evil, Hear No Evil" isn't exactly laugh-out-loud humor like "Silver Streak" and "Stir Crazy" were, but there's no shortage of laughs anywhere in it. I certainly enjoyed it. Also starring Alan North, Anthony Zerbe, Louis Giambalvo and Kirsten Childs.

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.

This pairing of Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor, while not "Silver Streak" and not the first half of "Stir Crazy", is still an amusing comedy with some absolutely hilarious moments. I mean, let's face it...the second half of Stir Crazy is as boring as it gets. This film lags in spots, but the chemistry of Pryor and Wilder does satisfy. Stay away from "Another You" (as I did). I figured that this film was as good as we were going to get from Pryor and Wilder. Was I right? I dunno. I stayed away from "Another You".

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.