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Waste of time

The Worst Film Ever

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Let's just begin with, if you're in the mood for a funny prison movie, you'll find both The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile ten times more humorous than Stir Crazy.Yeah, I know this is (barely) the 1980s, but hell, this was more like a 70s sitcom pilot that needed to be cancelled before aired. Aside from obviously-thrown-in-for-an-R-Rating stripper nudity and some mild swear words, this truly felt like some dated half-hour comedy on CBS of decades passed. This is sad since it started off so promising. No laughs, but it did manage to get a couple of big grins from me in Act One where our "heroes" get fired in New York City and decide to move to Hollywood to make it rich and score as many women as sand on the beaches. But, about a half-hour into the over-long two hour runtime, our boys wrongfully and apparently, willingly end up in prison. With the odds so stacked against them from not living out their remaining days behind bars, the movie really loses all steam, cleverness and fun.Of course, there's a silly turning point for them: a public rodeo that might serve as means of an escape. Throw in many characters to ensure the crazy in the title and you have your "film." Oh, and lest I forget: the biggest and most unlawful copout conclusion to any prison movie.I was shocked to learn all this from my first viewing last night. I thought this was supposed to be a cult classic. A laugh-out-loud riot signifying the Pryor/Wilder pair into cinematic history. Nope. In fact, I'm all-but upset I wasted two hours on an extremely humorless "comedy." I didn't laugh once…NOT ONCE. Like I said above, I smiled a few times indicating that scene or "joke" was somewhat clever, but it didn't get a chuckle out of me. If not for the chemistry between the boys and that the film was somewhat competently made, I'd rate this much lower. But, even with filmmakers knowing how to shoot scenes and two leads that work perfectly together, this movie is sorely NOT recommended. My first viewing of this comedic-duo was in See No Evil, Hear No Evil in theatres in 1989. I LOVED that movie. Just skip this 36-year-old dated movie and go with the 27-year-old timeless comedy: See No Evil, Hear No Evil.***Final thoughts: Whelp, that wraps up my Wilder Weekend. I figured I'd go with a trilogy of Gene Wilder films I had not seen in respect of his passing less than a week ago: The Producers, Young Frankenstein and Stir Crazy. The first and last I wouldn't recommend, but Y.F. I would totally support. That was one of the best comedies I've seen in a long time.

Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor starred in several movies together, and in "Stir Crazy" their comedic chemistry shines strong. A very good supporting cast (including Jo Beth Williams, Craig T. Nelson, and Barry Corbin) add to the strength of this entertaining film. And let us not forget that the one and only Sidney Poitier showed his ability as a comedy director for this.The scenes which slow this picture down are the rodeo-escape scenes toward the end of the film, and display very little life and are somewhat boring. The plot of "Stir Crazy", though, where Wilder and Pryor are framed for armed robbery and sent to prison, is quite amusing and hilarious, with the right amount of flavor and texture to grab my attention! Overall rating: 7 out of 10.

Fun jail break film. I get the impression this film is mostly ad-libbed and just lets the 'comedy duo' play in each scene. In fact the scenes seem so loose that it almost suffers in some parts. Some scenes are unforgettably funny, and others are plain bizarre but i enjoy the fearlessness of both actors. It's the usual naive and optimistic Wilder versus street wise and pessimistic Pryor, but it works for whatever reasons. People seem to find this film on a comedic par with Hear No Evil See No Evil, despite them being made nearly a decade apart. There is definitely some weird magic happening on screen, and the supporting cast is at their best. Stands strong for 1980.

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