See No Evil, Hear No Evil

Ah, the gimmick. When it works, it can be great. When it doesn't, that blasted thing can ruin an entire movie single-handed. I was skeptical of the gimmick/premise from 1989's See No Evil, Hear No Evil, but the talent involved was too much to pass up. And throwing in that I've never heard of the movie and never heard anyone talk about it, I went in with a clean slate.

Running his newstand in a downtown NYC skyscraper, Dave Lyons (Gene Wilder) goes about his day-to-day work like nothing's going on. Well, there is. He's deaf, but Dave is pretty smooth as long as he can read the person's lips he's talking to. One day, he hires Wally Karew (Richard Pryor), the two having some struggle communicating almost immediately. Why exactly? Wally is blind. How can they make it work? They do, finding a way and a rhythm, but it is relatively short-lived. One morning, a man walks in demanding to see Karew but before anything can be resolved....the man is shot. Dave never gets a good look at the killer -- only seeing her legs as she walks away -- while Wally only smells her perfume as she walks away scot-free. That's one problem but just the start. The police walk in to find Dave and Wally perched over the body. They're suspects No. 1 and No. 2.

Okay, about that gimmick thing. There's more than one. A couple actually in this Arthur Hiller-directed comedy.  In the third of four pairings between Pryor and Wilder, the laughs are there from beginning to end in a 103-minute movie. Critics ripped it apart pretty good for those gimmicks. One works better than the other. The one that doesn't? A blind guy who's good friends with a deaf guy sounds almost sophomoric, but nope, that works. What doesn't work is the pretty forced, overdone way to get the duo into some kooky situations. The murder isn't even the dumb part, but what comes after it. None of it is a deal-breaker, but you can't help but shake your head at it at times, especially the MacGuffin that ties it all together.

It isn't something that kills the movie because, well, because Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder are a comedy match made in heaven. Having already worked together on Silver Streak and Stir Crazy, they team up again here with similarly successful results. Say what you want about the movie itself, but their on-screen chemistry and banter are above any criticism. Like the best comedy teams from Laurel and Hardy to The Three Stooges, the Marx Brothers, Abbott and Costello to Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, chemistry is key above it all. They make it look easy scene-in and scene-out, raising the sometimes forced story above its average roots. No matter how goofy or downright stupid the story is, it's fun to watch this duo do their thing.

Simply put, Pryor and Wilder commit to the gimmick, a blind man and a deaf man forced to work together. It works because it is simple. Pryor's Wally can't see, liking to pretend he can. Wilder's Dave can't hear, but he's an expert at lip-reading (except for some tough sound-alikes). There are too many great little set pieces and running jokes to even mention, but here's a few. Drinking at a bar, they get into a fistfight, the blind man punching while the deaf man calls out where to punch as if it was a clock. My favorite has the duo arrested and taking mug shots. Dave can't see the photographer's face (so he can't hear her), requiring Wally to tell him what to do, but he can't see that Dave isn't in the right position. Watch it HERE. Just more proof you don't need something big and obvious and over the top to be funny. Sometimes it's the littlest things that produce the biggest laughs. I don't want to spoil too many of the best bits, but know this. It's genuinely funny. I laughed out loud throughout, and hopefully you will too.

You don't really need too much else in the cast department, but there's some other parts worth mentioning. The beautiful Joan Severance plays Eve, the real killer who's working with her partner, Kirgo, played by Kevin Spacey sporting a well-manicured pencil mustache and a British accent. Both of them are working for a mysterious man, Sutherland (Anthony Zerbe), who has a twist/surprise of his own in the final act. Alan North and Louis Giambalvo play two NYC detectives forced to deal with our blind/deaf duo and progressively losing it while Kirsten Childs plays Wally's sister, Adele, brought into the craziness.

Downright dumb at times with plenty of laughs. You wouldn't expect anything else from a comedy starring Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder. Turn off your brain for a couple hours and sit back and enjoy the laughs.

See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989): ***/****

The In-Laws

I can think of a lot of different types of buddy movies. Westerns like Butch and Sundance, cop flicks like 48 Hours and Lethal Weapon, even straight comedies like Silver Streak and The Odd Couple. I'll watch them in basically any variety with any cast. There's just something appealing about the dynamic when handled correctly. So bandits, cops, oddball friends, how about in-laws? Not my first thought either, but 1979's The In-Laws is a gem.

Preparing for the wedding of his daughter (Penny Peyser), mild-mannered NYC dentist Sheldon Kornpett (Alan Arkin) is a little skeptical and worried to meet his future in-laws. Upon meeting them, Vince Ricardo (Peter Falk) and his wife (Arlene Golonka), Sheldon is less than impressed when Vince starts spouting off at dinner about all his experiences, even screaming at his son. He's worried about what his daughter may be getting into, but he's thrown for an even bigger loop when Vince shows up the next day at his Manhattan office. Vince needs some help recovering something from his office, but he can't go in. Trying to go along with the odd-sounding plan for the sake of his daughter, Sheldon goes along with it. What's Vince up to? As Sheldon finds out when two men start shooting at him, Vince is a C.I.A. agent caught up in a plot to recover two U.S. currency engraving plates. Uh-oh, weird in-laws just got weirder.

My only real exposure to this movie was a vague recollection of a vaguely remembered 2003 remake that I never saw. Long story short? It didn't look good. I've been in a rut on Netflix so when I stumbled across it via an actor's search (being a movie reviewer is hard work I tell you!) I jumped. This comedy from director Arthur Hiller can officially be called a slump-buster. I loved this movie. It was perfection in its subtlety and when it's funny, it's hilarious. All I'm trying to figure out now is why it doesn't have more notoriety, more popularity? And what have I come up with? I've got ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. It doesn't rewrite the genre -- but few comedies do -- and doesn't rely on anything dirty, sexy or violent. Oh, and there's little if any cursing. So anyways, that mystery is still to be solved. I for one, loved it.

How this 1979 comedy slipped through the cracks for me is another mystery. Alan Arkin and Peter Falk are two of my all-time favorites so teaming the two of them up is like a fastball down the middle. It is a match made in heaven. What works so well is that both actors get a chance to play the straight man to the others' screw-up goofball. You just don't see that a lot as comedies usually pigeon-hole actors into one or the other. As Falk's Vince gets Arkin's Sheldon deeper and deeper into his highly dangerous C.I.A. mission, things get better and better. They have an easy-going perfection in their chemistry. Any scene they have together is spot-on, and that's a good thing when they're in virtually every scene together. Both Falk and Arkin are given their chances to shine, and neither Hollywood pro disappoints. Just a solid pairing that carries the movie.

With a few exceptions, a majority of the laughs here come from the kookiness going on more than the performances. It's that almost laid back, subtle goofiness between Arkin and Falk that works so well in the ridiculously stupid situations they find themselves in. Vince's reveal to Sheldon about his occupation in a crowded NYC deli really gets things going, the duo talking about a federal crime loud enough that everyone around them can hear clearly. Later as they disembark a plane in Honduras (don't ask), they come under fire from snipers. Experienced under fire, Vince yells "Serpentine, Shell! Serpentine!" in regards to how he should run so the snipers can't draw a bead on him. The line is great, Arkin's follow-up even better. Another highlight comes late as Vince and Sheldon race from hired killers, Vince saying "It's incomprehensible they took my license away! I'm a great driver!"

The goofiest and funniest is saved for last when the duo ends up at the villa of a Central American dictator, General Garcia (Richard Libertini), who's clearly a card or two short of a full deck. Case in point; he's drawn a face on his hand and talks to it....all the time. There's a great pay-off to this extended sequence, but it plays like the rest of the movie. The story and ever-escalating craziness is all sorts of nuts, but Arkin and Falk keep it grounded. Also look for Nancy Dussault as Sheldon's wife, Carol, and Ed Begley Jr. as Barry Lutz, a C.I.A. agent with an interesting reveal about Vince's background. Underrated comedy, one that's definitely worth seeking out.

The In-Laws (1979): *** 1/2 /**** 

Silver Streak

This spring I reviewed Stir Crazy starring Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor and liked it a lot, the complete random nature of the comedy appealing to me. I didn't want to rush into other Wilder-Pryor pairings though, letting it breathe a bet, so recently after a several month wait, I dove back in, watching 1976's Silver Streak, the duo's first film pairing.

Traveling from Los Angeles to Chicago via the Silver Streak train, editor George Caldwell (Wilder) is looking forward to a couple days of quiet travel. Aboard the Streak, he meets Hilly (Jill Clayburgh), an assistant to an author traveling on-board, and they quickly hit it off. Back in George's sleeper bunk (uh-oh, adult situations!), George swears he sees a dead body, Hilly's boss, hanging outside his window but shakes it off as his head playing tricks on him. The next morning he goes to the boss' sleeper only to find a mysterious character (Ray Walston) rummaging through his bags. What the heck is going on in this train?

I don't know exactly what I was expecting out of this movie, but with Wilder and Pryor involved, I feel safe saying I expected a pretty funny flick. And you know what? It was. It's not a mile a minute laugh fest, but when I laughed, it was genuine. But overall, what a weird movie. The first 30 minutes are basically a slow burn as George and Hilly seduce each other. Then there's a murder, more murders, some investigating, new characters, shootouts, and a twist with a vicious, murdering art appraiser. I assure you that's the first time I've ever wrote that in a review. Director Arthur Hiller has an entertaining mess of a movie here, but it's a mess in a good way. A romantic, action-packed comedy. How often can you see those, and good ones at that?

What surprised me most was that Pryor doesn't appear until an hour-plus into the movie. What isn't surprising? The movie is at its best when Wilder and Pryor are on-screen together. There is a natural, easy-going and very funny chemistry between them that most actors and duos can only aspire to. Pryor plays Grover T. Muldoon, a small-time crook who ends up helping Wilder's George in his efforts to save Hilly. How do you ask? George is thrown off or falls off the Silver Streak three or four times, meeting Grover in the process. For no other reason than the story requires it, Grover helps the efforts, teaching this very un-criminal-like George how to be a crook. Things get crazier and crazier, but through it all the hijinks and shenanigans from Wilder and Pryor keep this one going at its frenetic pace.

The bits do come fast and furious after the dramatic, mystery scenes. A running bit with George being suspected as a rapist is hilarious in its bizarre oddness and inherent darkness. The highlight though is obvious; George -- being looked for by the police for murder....it's a long story -- is forced to pretend to be a black man. Courtesy of some shoe polish, a Rastafarian hat, a shiny jacket, and some "cool" lessons from Grover, George tries to embrace his inner cool black guy with some obviously politically incorrect but truly funny scenes. That's probably the biggest laugh, but most of the humor comes from a simple line delivery or a perfectly expressed facial reaction. It doesn't always have to be a big laugh to be effective, it just has to work for what it is.

I loved the Wilder-Pryor duo, but the cast here is nothing to shake your head at. Clayburgh does her best as the damsel in distress, having some surprising chemistry with Wilder. Because he always played a bad guy, Patrick McGoohan plays the Bad Guy, the conniving, murdering art appraiser with Walston, Bond villain Richard Kiel and Stefan Gierasch as his henchmen. Ned Beatty has a very funny supporting part as Bob Sweet, a vitamin salesman who strikes it up with George aboard the train, waiting to deliver a twist. Also look for Clifton James, Lucille Benson, Scatman Crothers and a young Fred Willard in supporting parts. 

Another winner for Wilder and Pryor, a definitively different, unique comedy that wasn't quite what I was expecting. Off-the-point expectations aside, this was a winner with a good cast, a lot of laughs, and just a good old-fashioned goofy comedy.

Silver Streak <---trailer (1976): ***/****

The Out-of-Towners

I thought it was appropriate this time of the year with the holidays to throw traveling under the bus.  Once you get to your location, traveling is typically okay, but it's the getting there that's the "fun" part...even more so with the recent news about the intense TSA searches.  And honestly, everyone has their horrible travel stories, myself included.  It's a ritual of growing up almost.  But what about the trip where absolutely NOTHING went the way you planned? I've been lucky and never had a trip quite like that.  But after seeing 1970's The Out-of-Towners, I feel like I experienced the worst trip imaginable.

One of the first things that jumped into my head when watching the movie was the premise that it was a comedy.  A trip where nothing goes right isn't exactly a formula for a hilarious movie.  But with a script by Neil Simon and two stars that more than do justice to the story, they make the most out of a story which in the wrong hands would have produced groans more than laughs. Is it a classic? I don't think so. It gets to be almost surreal in the way the story throws one obstacle after another at this poor couple.  We should all just hope nothing like this ever happens again in real life.

With a huge job interview that could end up getting him a major promotion, family man George Hellerman (Jack Lemmon) is flying from his home in Ohio to New York for an overnight trip with his wife, Gwen (Sandy Dennis). George has everything planned down to the minute including a romantic dinner and dancing and a night at one of the nicest hotels in New York City, all before going to his interview the next morning at 9 a.m.  But almost from the start, George's highly-detailed plans are derailed when the airplane is delayed landing at Kennedy Airport.  Things get worse when the plane is re-routed to Boston because of inclement weather, and as the cherry on top...their luggage is nowhere to be found.  George and Gwen couldn't imagine what other shenanigans await them.

Without giving everything away, here's just some of what awaits this couple on their short trip to NYC.  Start with luggage getting lost, sent to Boston instead of NYC, riding on a crowded train with no food to NYC, starving the whole way because they were looking forward to a classy restaurant, mugged twice, hotel reservation canceled, walking through the city in the rain, unhelpful police, no money, and the most unfriendly, unhelpful people in the history of the world.  At a certain point as a viewer, you just want to roll over and take a nap.  Sure, it's just a movie, but how could any two sane, normal people survive this much being thrown at them?  The laughs come out of their reactions because no one should have to go through even half this stuff.

If you're looking for someone to play a nervous, twitchy, disheveled man, there's nowhere better to start than with Jack Lemmon, one of my all-time favorite actors and not just limited to comedies. Nervous about this upcoming interview and already the owner of an ulcer in his stomach, his Frank Hellerman is basically a ticking time bomb, waiting for that one last thing that will push him over the edge. Of course at a certain point, if he'd just calm down and listen for once maybe some of his problems would be solved, but that would make for a short movie, wouldn't it? As his wife Gwen, Dennis basically the female equivalent of Lemmon here if a little more patient.  She's got all the twitching and awkward shrugs down perfectly, and her 'Oh my God' delivery produced laughs each and every time it was delivered. They're a believable married couple, and that definitely helps.

Now at a certain point, it would just have to become too much to handle, right? Where this Arthur Hiller-directed comedy hits new heights is in the last 30-45 minutes.  After sleeping the night in Central Park, George and Gwen wake up, wondering what they should do.  This is where the movie goes to new heights as the story takes on an almost-surreal feel to it. Both of the Hellermans are near just throwing in the towel and heading for home.  Check out IMDB's Memorable Quotes (and there's a lot of them), and at least half come from a quick 15-20 minute window late in the story. I laughed more in that quick turnaround than the rest of the movie combined, including my favorite, Dennis running to Lemmon shouting 'I found breakfast, honey! A box of Cracker Jack on a bench!' That's just good stuff.

It's kind of a one-track movie so there's not much more to praise or criticize here.  It's a good movie definitely upgraded because of the performances of Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis.  Lemmon especially stands out, his ranting and raving on a street corner worth the price of admission on its own.  And just when you think nothing else bad can happen, well, I won't spoil it here.  Just stick around for the ending.  It's well worth, and was repeated years later in an episode of Seinfeld. You can check the whole movie out at Youtube starting with Part 1 of 9.

The Out-of-Towners <---TCM trailer (1970): ***/****