SEE NO EVIL, HEAR NO EVIL

US, 1989, 97 minutes, Colour.
Gene Wilder, Richard Pryor, Joan Severance, Kevin Spacey, Anthony Zerbe.
Directed by Arthur Hiller.

See No Evil, Hear No Evil is a comic vehicle for Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder. They had appeared together (with Arthur Hiller's direction) in Silver Streak as well as under Sidney Poitier's direction in Stir Crazy.

In this film, Pryor is blind, Wilder is deaf. The jokes about blindness and deafness are done with good humour and are not offensive. Together they 'witness' a murder and, after being arrested and escaping, try to solve the mystery themselves. There is quite a lot of very broad comedy, relying on the personalities of the stars (as well as a lot of swearing, as usual, from Pryor).

The film is set in New York City and New Jersey, has quite a lot of humour, enjoys itself as a caper - and is your average entertainment. Direction is by Arthur Hiller, a director from the '60s to the '80s of a wide range of films from The Americanisation of Emily to The Out of Towners to Outrageous Fortune.

1. Buddies comedy, handicap, a caper?

2. New York City and New Jersey, editing and stunts, score?

3. The title and its application to the heroes?

4. The introduction to Wally and Dave, the initial banter on the street, Dave standing in front of the truck, Wally and his helping the blind man, at the races betting, with the binoculars looking the wrong way?
His following up the advertisement? The interchange of the two at the job, especially Dave not hearing? Establishing the characters and situations? At work, going to the bar and Dave directing Wally in the fight? Having the ice cream in the park and talking about being handicapped, Wally putting the ice cream on Dave's head?

5. Awaiting the papers, the criminal arriving, his sudden death, the gun and its going off, their arrest?

6. The police and their being obstreperous, hard, the chief and his anger and exasperation, the humour of the interrogations, the exasperation of the woman taking the photos and trying to get Dave to face the front? The humour of their escape technique?

7. Each at the interrogation, the photos, the lawyer's arrival and their discovering the truth? The escape, running, handcuffed, Wally blind driving with Dave's directions, the mad chase, the guns and meeting the killers, the police, crashing into the rubbish barge?

8. The motel, ringing Wally's sister, her coming to help, the police following, the raid, their hiding in the air-conditioning?


9. Dave reading the lips, their going to the resort? Impersonating the Swedish and German doctors? The sister crashing the car and distracting the villain? Finding the coin? Dave and the villain in the shower, his response and the hold-up? Wally and his performance as the Swedish doctor talking at the seminar? His performance of being ill and Dave helping him out?

10. Going to the mansion, looking through the binoculars, the brakes failing, the dogs, discovering the blind criminal, the shootings, the death of the villain, Eve's arrival? The helicopter and their Tarzan routine? The happy ending?

11. The blind criminal and his empire, his threatening his opposition? The suave English villain and his brutality? Eve and her beauty, ruthlessness? Posing as the lawyers, the shooting, the chase, the crash, the shower sequence?

12. The police exasperation? The finale with the chief wanting to shoot them?

13. The ice cream ending?

14. The jokes, of sight and sound, handicap? Taste and the effectiveness of the jokes?