Director: DIRECTOR
Cast: CAST
Defining moment: It’s not exactly hilarious, but the scene where Gene Wilder’s terrifying cellmate sings ‘Down in the Valley’ is surprisingly emotional.
Could ‘Stir Crazy’ be the best prison comedy of all time? Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor – as innocent New York buddies Skip and Harry who get banged-up for 125 years apiece for armed robbery – were both at the height of their considerable powers, and given room to improvise by both scriptwriter Bruce Jay Friedman and director Sidney Poitier (wisely, as it turned out, considering the filmmakers' other works were notably laugh-free). It’s a tale of fear, ridicule and humiliation resounding with protestations: Wilder’s wild cries and motormouth mitigations competing with Pryor’s craven wimperings and gibbering incoherence. The plot does get bogged down – in some overextended business involving Skip’s unexpected rodeo skills and the pair’s escape plans – and the tension does slacken off, but the first half is comically inspired and hysterically funny. Wally Hammond
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