Excellent, a Must See

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

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

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.

1980 continued a beautiful partnership between Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor with the film Stir Crazy. Sidney Poitier was tasked with directing the two comedic stars in the film about an innocent duo arrested for a bank heist. Trying to prove their innocence, and discover what they want out of life, the two stay together to stay strong. Great on-screen chemistry, exceptional comedic writing, and an engaging story work to propel the story and make audiences crazy for Stir Crazy.Skip Donahue (Gene Wilder) and Harry Monroe (Richard Pryor) are middle-aged men bored with both their lives and existence. When they both get fired on the same day, Skip sees this as the golden opportunity to pack up and leave miserable New York City behind and find themselves in California. Having nothing to hold him back, Harry reluctantly agrees and the two set out for the sunbelt. When they finally make their way west, Skip convinces a bank towards a new marketing plan that requires he and Harry to dress up like chickens and perform a song and dance routine to bring customers into the bank. On their lunch break, unbeknownst to them, two people steal their costumes and rob the bank. When they return from lunch, the bank manager identifies them as the men in the suits and the two are instantly arrested. Skip being the loving optimist that he is, is certain that they will be revealed as innocent and the real perpetrators will be brought to justice. Harry, the cynical realist, is terrified and believes they will be blamed for the crime and forced to do jail time. The two are convicted in court, and begin the process to clear their names. When a court appointed attorney is assigned to their case, along with his cousin who strikes up a special relationship with Skip, things just might go their way in the end, as long as they can keep their wits about them.The film begins with beautiful establishing shots of New York City which would have been good on their own, but part of the genius of the opening is that the shots don't shy away from the seedy aspects of the Big Apple. Usually, with a film set in New York, the audience gets to see nothing but the gorgeous scenery and the hustle and bustle commonly associated with the city. The establishing shots showing people being rude to each other and the dirty streets and seedy back alleys lend well to foreshadowing and understanding Skip's desire to leave. These establishing shots are shown against a song being sung by Gene Wilder creating a fantastic juxtaposition of his jovial compassionate disposition against the grainy temperament of his surroundings. The pairing of Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor was a gift to audiences everywhere. The two shared a wonderful chemistry that played well against the two comedic types of the actors. Pryor did excellently to bring down the raw power of Gene Wilder's off-the-wall comedic talent, bringing a level of cohesion that he desperately needed in a co- star. Great chemistry and great comedic writing come together magically in such a way that the audience doesn't even feel bad rooting for the guys trying to break out of jail.Gene Wilder's Skip Donahue is my spirit animal. He is so compassionate and believes deep within his heart that humanity would be a better place if only people were kinder to each other. That's a lesson that needs to be heard and emulated often. So much is said about toughening up to be able to function in society, yet nothing is said about softening up to change society. Skip provides that look we so desperately need to remind ourselves that the answers don't matter if we are asking the wrong questions. It's great to see a character like Skip that doesn't get trampled by others, but actually goes a long way to transform all those he comes into contact with. Who knew Stir Crazy packed such a lesson; a lesson that wouldn't be possible without the wonderful acting of Gene Wilder in a role that this reviewer isn't sure that so much acting was involved, as opposed to a display of the actor's natural personality.

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.

I recognised the title and knew the two leading stars, I didn't realise though that actor Sidney Poitier has done directing, and this was one of the films he made, so I was definitely going to see it. Basically in New York, writer Skip Donahue (Gene Wilder) and actor Harry Monroe (Richard Pryor) are fired from their jobs, and try to get any odd job to get by, one such job being dressed as woodpeckers and singing and dancing to promote a bank. Two crooks take their costumes while they are on a break, and they rob the bank, and not recognising them under the costumes they have been framed for the robbery, and are immediately arrested. They are sentenced to one hundred and twenty five years in prison, but their lawyer Len Garber (Joel Brooks) says he can get them an appeal case, they just have to wait until they can go to court and prove their innocence. In the meantime, Skip and Harry are having a hard time getting used to being in jail, but they do make friends with real bank robber Jesus Ramirez (Miguel Ángel Suárez) and gay killer Rory Schultebrand (Georg Stanford Brown). They are informed of the status of fellow prisoners, contraband supplier Jack Graham (Jonathan Banks) and murderer Blade (Charles Weldon), and they make an unlikely ally with the most feared prisoner, Grossberger (Erland Van Lidth), a mute convicted mass murderer who does have a soft side. Three months pass Skip and Harry are brought to the office of Warden Walter Beatty (Barry Corbin) to have a "test", and Skip is the first to get on a mechanical bull to see how long he will last until chucked off, and the surprise of them all he stays on even at maximum speed, and he has passed the "test". The prisoners tell him and Harry that the test was for a rodeo competition that the Warden wants to enter on behalf of their prison and the neighbouring prison run by Warden Henry Sampson (Nicolas Coaster), so they say that Skip should refuse to participate until they can strike a deal. So Skip refuses, and it is up to Deputy Ward Wilson (Poltergeist's Craig T. Nelson) to break him, i.e. put him and Harry in labour, deprived of sleep, Skip in solitary confinement and them encountering an originally fearful Grossberger, but none of this works. After Harry has a spell in prison hospital, Skip eventually agrees to do the rodeo, but only if he gets to choose his team, and a bigger jail cell, of course the prisoners and he have planned a break out. So it comes to the rodeo, Skip is read to take on the one or two bull riding contests against the prisoner he is against, while Harry and the gang work their way through the stadium and make their escapes in disguise and hidden places. In the end, lawyer Len Garber, alongside his cousin Meredith (Poltergeist's JoBeth Williams), who Skip instantly took a liking to first seeing her in prison, they reveal to him and harry that they have been found innocent after all and are free, so they speed off in the car they nicked, with Maaredith joining. It is a little odd that they were just allowed to drive away having escaped from their prison status, i.e. the Warden may have kept them without finding out their innocence, but it doesn't matter. Wilder and Pryor both get their time on screen and together as the out of place prison buddies, there might not have been so many laugh out loud jokes for me, but it was a humorous comedy. Good!