TheRetroCritic

Here's the video version of my Silver Streak review.

Here's the video version of my Stir Crazy review.

Shortly before Gene Wilder turned a French film into The Woman In Red , we got The Toy , a remake of Francis Veber's Le Jouet starring Richard Pryor in the role originally played by Pierre Richard. It did well at the box-office despite critics not exactly praising it. One of the many Francis Veber comedies to be adapted into Hollywood films, The Toy should have been a breeze with its simple concept leaving little room for messing up and the reliable Pryor doing his thing. For the most part, this remake is pretty faithful to the original film as a rich, spoiled kid (played by Scott Schwartz) basically buys a grown man as a toy just to annoy his distant father only to find that a friendship develops between he and his purchase. The key scenes from the French film are recreated here from Pierre Richard's slapstick shenanigans to the kid's creation of a newspaper exposing his father's cold approach to everyone. As hard as he tries to make the film fun, Richard Pryor f

After the success of Silver Streak , Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor were cast as the leads in Stir Crazy , a comedy from 1980 about two friends on a road trip across America who are mistaken for bank robbers and sent to prison after a particularly harsh ruling. We follow Skip (Wilder) and Harry (Pryor) as they enter the Southern prison and try to survive as long as possible behind bars while their lawyer attempts to prove their innocence. Skip is the optimistic writer who believes there is good in everyone and Harry is the realist who just wants to keep his head down. Later on, when the warden is testing prisoners to take part in a rodeo competition, Skip proves himself to be a natural and agrees to ride in the hope of somehow using this opportunity to plan some kind of jail break. There's something almost tragic about seeing these two innocent guys being sent to such an unforgiving place and Sidney Poitier's film does have its dark Cool Hand Luke moments but it's also

Back in 1976, Gene Wilder starred alongside Jill Clayburgh in Silver Streak , an action comedy directed by Arthur Hiller set on a moving train. The film was a box-office success and was significant for being the very first on-screen collaboration between Wilder and Richard Pryor. If you're expecting another Stir Crazy , however, don't because you're setting yourself up for disappointment as Pryor doesn't really enter the picture until about halfway through. The film isn't quite the farce you'd expect considering the always hilarious Wilder/Pryor duo so anyone going back to check this film out might be surprised to find that Silver Streak is, in fact, a surprisingly sophisticated comedy with a Hitchcockian tone. Which is not to say that the film isn't funny, quite the opposite. Gene Wilder is excellent from start to finish nailing both the dramatic, romantic scenes and the goofier moments which begs the question: why no Academy Award nomination? The fil

After the success of their previous collaborations, Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder reunited in Another You , a comedy from 1991 in which a small-time con man befriends a pathological liar before they both find themselves in the middle of a large-scale con. Their last feature together or apart, Another You is something of a bittersweet creation since it not only flopped at the box-office but Pryor had already been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and you can tell he's not at his healthiest in the film. That said, both he and Wilder make a terrific team once again and look like they're having a good time throughout. The actors' usual dynamic is changed a little here as Gene Wilder plays the wackier role and Pryor is the straight man. We first meet the former in a mental institution as he attempts to shake off his bad habit of constantly lying and not being able to stop. Eddie (Pryor), meanwhile, is tasked with taking George (Wilder) out for walks as part of his community

Richard Pryor stars in Critical Condition , a comedy from 1987 in which he plays Eddie, a man arrested following a run-in with some dodgy characters who attempts to fake an insanity plea in order to stay out of prison. As a storm hits the hospital he'd been transferred to, the power goes out and he has to pretend to be a doctor in order to escape. Unfortunately, he soon finds he can't go anywhere while the storm is going on and is forced to really try being a doctor until it clears up, which obviously proves hit-and-miss, to say the least. Like with Brewster's Millions , Pryor is provided with a funny, simple concept and he makes the most of it. As both Eddie and his alter-ego Dr Kevin Slattery, Pryor does a great job in his usual off-beat way, throwing funny lines effortlessly and stumbling wide-eyed through difficult situations. The film is not a laugh riot throughout but the characters and scenarios are random and likable enough to keep you entertained. There'

A year after the release of Monty Python's groundbreaking religious spoof Life Of Brian , we got Marty Feldman comedy In God We Tru$t , another satire this time focusing on the money-grubbing aspects of those pretending to speak on the Church's behalf. The film's plot is very Blues Brothers in spirit as innocent monk Ambrose (Feldman) is sent out of the monastery for the very first time with the respectable mission of bringing back $5000 to save the place. At the same time, Brother Ambrose encounters his share of charlatans working in the name of God including a church truck-driving drunk (Peter Boyle) and a diabolical televangelist played by a show-stealing Andy Kaufman. Ambrose also meets his first love-interest, a friendly prostitute played by Louise Lasser. There's a lot going on in this movie and yet you never feel it knows where it's going. Unlike Life Of Brian which was so clever in its writing that taking away one scene from it would be, well, blasphem

Who knew Richard Pryor once ran that Cantina?

Oh boy... Where do I even start with this one?! You know how Superman IV is   goofy but in a way that's fun and enjoyably campy? Well  Superman III takes the zaniness to a whole new level, to the point where, at times, this feels not so much like a Superman film but rather a generic, corny, not good 80's comedy. This is a far more light-hearted movie than it probably should be, especially since it does have the odd good idea here and there, but it's too blinded by the delusion that it's hilarious to bother taking advantage of its potential. There's an interesting Superman film in there where Clark goes back to Smallville, meets up with high-school sweetheart Lana and tries to reconcile both parts of his personality. This leads to a badass conflict between Clark Kent and Bizarro (an evil version of Superman) after Superman comes into contact with an altered form of Kryptonite. All that stuff works well enough, though Clark's college reunion needed to be