Post by StevePulaski on Mar 31, 2011 23:42:02 GMT -5
Silver Streak (1976)
Directed by: Arthur Hiller
Directed by: Arthur Hiller
Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder.
Rating: ★★★½
Silver Streak is the last film I needed to see to conclude my Pryor/Wilder adventure. Now I'm amazed. Silver Streak surpassed all assumptions and stands as my favorite film by the comedic duo. Amazing sound editing, a compelling adventure, and interesting and well developed characters are the key to make a great action film. Silver Streak has it all.
I've never not found a Richard Pryor/Gene Wilder film funny. They were one of the funniest comedic duos of all time. See No Evil, Hear No Evil is my second favorite by them. Yeah it was corny and the plot wasn't too great but the plot of having one deaf guy and one blind guy as friends opened a world of possibilites. It was a funny film. Enough said. Another You would be my second favorite. Even though Pryor was sick and clearly not well it was still a great comedy. Stir Crazy is my least favorite of their work, but even that still had it's funny moments. Pryor/Wilder never got their big film break. But the four things they did were strong and deserving of more recognition.
The plot: George Caldwell (Wilder) is traveling on a train named "Silver Streak" from Los Angeles to Chicago. George meets an undeniably gorgeous woman named Hilly (Clayburgh) who is a secretary for her boss also aboard the train. The first night, George witnesses Hilly's boss' corpse being thrown from the train. He freaks out and goes to his room the next morning to see if he is there to assure he saw what he thought.
When asking to see the boss, two goons throw George from the train. George gets lucky and hitches a ride from an old lady on a biplane back on the train. This starts a series of silly, but funny, encounters with danger and trouble.
After being kicked off the train for a second time, George meets Groover Muldoon (Pryor) a thief he finds in the back of a cop car he steals. The hilarity only picks up when Pryor and Wilder meet. Their lines are great, their acts are welcome, and they are not but a pleasure to see on screen.
When it comes to comedic duos, besides Brian O'Halloran and Jeff Anderson (Dante and Randal of Clerks) Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder were one of the best. It's almost shocking to hear they weren't real life friends. If they were I think we would've seen a lot more films with them together. Another You, released in 1993, was Wilder's last theatrical release. One of my wishes is to have him (or Rick Moranis) come back to do one more film. It'll never happen, but one can always hope.
The action in Silver Streak is the perfect balance. This is the kind of action film I love. Action/comedy. Very few are done right, but they are nothing but clean cut, raw, enjoyable entertainment when they are. The fact this is done right and has a great setting and a fantastic duo is just a match made in heaven.
Silver Streak is a fast paced comedy that does pretty much everything right. Going into this with expectations a tad lower than average I was very surprised with the execution. If Gene Wilder came out of retirement to come back to films like this one right here it would be a dream.
Starring: Gene Wilder, Jill Clayburgh, and Richard Pryor. Directed by: Arthur Hiller.