Stir Crazy (1980)

Really Surprised!

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

hyped garbage

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Though Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor were first teamed together in 1976's Silver Streak, it was not necessarily a pairing as Pryor didn't appear until 45 minutes into the movie, but this film showcases the actors' true comedic talents. Wilder and Pryor are Skip Donahue and Harry Monroe, are two out-of-work losers in NYC who decide to start a new life out in California. Along the way, their van breaks down in Phoenix, Arizona and decide to become mascots for a local bank to drum up extra cash before continuing their trip, but two bank robbers steal their costumes and rob the bank, leaving Slip and Harry to take the blame. The two are sentenced to 125 years in prison as their useless lawyer tries to research the case more carefully. Harry and Skip find that the prison surroundings are very difficult and as they are constantly abused (verbally and physically) by the scowling guards and the inmates. The warden, however, gains sympathy for the two, providing Skip will ride in the annual prison rodeo.The film itself, includes a lot of memorable moments, particularly the character of hulking inmate Grossberger, Pryor's mysterious appendix operation in the prison hospital, and the rodeo sequences itself.The film also includes early appearances by Barry Corbin as the warden, Craig T. Nelson as the gruff head prison guard, Joel Brooks as the boys' attorney Len Garber. JoBeth Williams as Len's comely social-worker cousin, and Jonathan Banks as a vicious fellow inmate that is given special treatment.Definitely one of the great Wilder/Pryor comedies.

In all fairness, and respect to our two comedic stars, what eventuates here is a pretty good movie, though one feels there is room for improvement. The movies not overly funny, well much funnier than Hanky Panky, but first viewing Stir Crazy as a teen, I would of found it funnier. There are great moments more with Pryor, more than Wilder, but watching Wilder lose it, that's really wild. Here the moments that crack you up, are mostly ll golden ones, per few hard chuckles. The mechanical bull, warden office scene, for one, where Barry Corbin, our corrupt warden, discovers a new Cowboy in Wilder for his own selfish reasons. Another moment, is two company, three's a much bigger crowd in Wilder and Pryor's cell, where that big fat standing wanderer, has Pryor pinned against the bunk, and Wilder's standing at the sidelines. Pryor and Wilder as a desperate pair of entertainers, are falsely accused for robbing a bank in chicken suits, where prefore, they were doing their little act. If this scenario was done in reality, Pryor and Wilder would of never spent a day in the pen, cause straight away, you would of spotted different voices. The apple of Wilder's eye, Jobeth Taylor as a co lawyer, I must admit, looks really dapper and sexy here, and really couldn't buy the chances of her identifying the tattoo of one of our culprits, in this western honky tonk bar. The film does get a little bogged down by the rodeo scene time, and I did find this a bit annoying. What I also found, a little annoying was Wilder's dreary opening song, the end song, minus Wilder, a much brighter and greater one, I really liked. On the whole Stir Crazy is a bad entertaining flick. Craig T Nelson struts some of his best stuff, as an awful mean guard. Could be the best performance in the movie.

I really wanted to like this movie. For the most part I did, as there was a good mix of physical and verbal comedy. I remember thinking that, with the basic premise established in the first 20 minutes or so, they probably could have the whole thing be nonstop laughs for 90 minutes. Somewhere along the line, the writers sort of lost track of the jokes and the film ended up being much longer than it needed to be to tell the story. The last half-hour or so is pure plot without any reason to laugh. There are some very funny moments here, but, given the participants, there should have been more. It's Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor and they are stuck in a film that's too long and not funny enough to justify the running time.

Stir Crazy starts in New York City as best friends Skip Donahue (Gene Wilder) & Harry Monroe (Richard Pryor) are both fired from their jobs on the same afternoon, drowning their sorrows in a local bar Skip tells Harry that he is fed up with New York & convinces his friend that they should set off on a road trip across the US to Hollywood to find their fame & fortune. Harry agrees but their old van breaks down in a small town called Glenboro, needing money to pay for the repairs Skip & Harry are hired by a bank to sing a song dressed as Woodpeckers. Two local crooks steal the Woodpecker costumes & rob the bank for which Skip & Harry are blamed, they go before a judge, found guilty & sentenced to one hundred & twenty five years each behind bars in state prison. Both Skip & Harry are unprepared for the harsh reality of prison & decide to use the upcoming rodeo to escape...Directed by Sidney Poitier this is the sort of film that you will get & roll around on the floor laughing or find crude & unfunny, comedy like so much else is subjective & what makes one person laugh will not necessarily make the guy sitting next to him laugh so when I say that I thought Stir Crazy was often quite hilarious it's only my own personal opinion as I know quite rightly the person I was standing next to in the que at the bus stop may not. Simple. I won't say that you will find Stir Crazy as funny as I did but I think you would need to be pretty devoid of emotion not to find at least some of it amusing & as I said I think it's often outright hilarious. The film starts off almost entirely as a showcase for the comedic pairing of Wilder & Pryor with some terrific scenes including the Woodpecker dance, the 'I'm bad' scene in jail, some priceless one-liners & reactions to the general likability of the two leads as they turn the material into gold. However once the rodeo aspect & jail break angle kicks in during the second half of the film the comedy seems to take a back seat as gambling, cheating & an odd jail break (why did Harry have to go back into the rodeo? Why couldn't Rory & Jesus climb up the shaft & into the popcorn thing like Harry & Skip do?) take center stage. Also the ending is a little silly & unsatisfying in it's attempt to finish as quickly as possible, sure Harry & Skip have been acquitted but that still leaves the fact they broke out of jail & helped two other convicted criminals including a murderer to escape too. While I am poking holes in the plot would a lawyer's niece really get a job in a topless bar just on the off chance she might see a guy with a particular tattoo? Now that's going above & beyond the call of duty, unless of course she needed the extra money as well.Shot in a real Arizona prison this has good production values & is well made for what it is although there's no real action apart from some rodeo footage of horses & bulls thrashing around. While there is plenty of bad language & profanity there's no violence to speak of. Apparently Richard Pryor refused to wear the Woodpecker suit while filming but strangely did wear for the poster & promotional materials.Apparently a big success at the time even though the critics generally hated it, some of the country & western style music & songs are a little nerve grating & distracting but nothing too major. The acting is good, Wilder & Pryor in particular are brilliant here as a pairing & it's said a lot of scenes were improvised between the two. Even though their character's never meet in Stir Crazy both JoBeth Williams & Craig T. Nelson went on to star in the excellent Poltergeist (1982) a couple of years later.Stir Crazy is a film that I found extremely funny, Wilder & Pryor are on top form & while the logistic's of the story seem to have been shoved to one side Stir Crazy is just a film to be enjoyed & not taken too seriously.