Skip Donahue and Harry Monroe, two New Yorkers, make the decision to leave the city and look for work elsewhere. They end up getting jobs promoting the opening of a bank while dressed as woodpeckers. They no longer have to worry about finding work because they are condemned to prison when their feathery costumes are stolen and used in a bank robbery.
Stir Crazy (1980) Movie Review
A reunion was unavoidable after Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder succeeded as a comic combination in the 1976 farce Silver Streak. Stir Crazy, which was directed by the legendary Sidney Poitier, borrows several strategies from the earlier movie Silver Streak, but it never quite equals its frantic pace. The romance plotline in Stir Crazy is also poorly handled, which is problematic given that the chemistry between Wilder and leading lady Jill Clayburgh was a major selling point of Silver Streak. The fact that Pryor and Wilder are separated for lengthy lengths of screen time, though, is Stir Crazy’s major flaw. Stir Crazy vibrates with good-natured hilarity when the actors are there, but when they aren’t, the film gets bogged down in the routine workings of its clumsy plot.
The film starts in New York, where aspirant dramatist Skip (Wilder) and aspirant actor Harry (Pryor) are employed as store detectives and waiters, respectively. On the same day that both men lose their jobs, the overly optimistic Skip suggests they move to Hollywood. When they run into car trouble in Arizona, Skip makes yet another ridiculous suggestion: he and Harry should dress as birds and perform a musical performance inside a bank as part of a promotional event. Later, two thugs rob the bank while taking the costumes, accusing Harry and Skip of committing the crime.
The narrative is approaching a comical level of craziness, and the humour are weak but plentiful up until this point, roughly 30 minutes into the movie. But suddenly the fast-paced story comes to a grinding halt as our brave protagonists are imprisoned. Once in jail, Harry and Skip encounter stereotyped figures like a huge serial murderer, a tough gang boss, and a queeny gay in predictable (and occasionally unpleasant) ways. Meanwhile, Skip is compelled to participate in a dishonest prison rodeo after Warden Beatty (Barry Corbin) unexpectedly learns that Skip has innate talent as a bull rider (!). (Comparable to The Longest Yard from 1974.)
Although there are brief moments of humour throughout the film’s meaty middle, such as Pryor and Wilder’s physical comedy sequences about attempting to fit into a tiny prison cell, the mood is overly sombre and wearisome overall. By the time the film sputters toward its unimpressive finish, Stir Crazy has transformed into an intricate tale of a prison break with hardly any humorous moments. The greatest parts of Pryor and Wilder’s performances are really engaging, and the picture’s technical execution is flawless. Following Stir Crazy, the performers regrouped twice more for the films See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989) and Another You (1991), both of which damaged the reputation of a once-promising acting duo.
