Before we begin, I just want to point out that this movie, made in 1985, was the SEVENTH film based on the 1902 novel by George Barr McCutcheon. That may seem excessive, but a remake every 11 years actually seems pretty tame by the Hollywood standards of modern times, where in 2013 White House Down remade Olympus Has Fallen some 4 months later!
The director here is Walter Hill, making what I'd argue is the only pure comedy film of his career. He also directed the According to Jim Belushi/Schwarzenegger vehicle Red Heat, but that's more of a thriller with comedic undertones. It's also pretty terrible, and I know because I just watched it a couple of months ago and put on Red Sonja to cleanse my palate! Anyhow, to say I love Walter Hill's films would still somehow be doing an injustice to the man, and to clarify, I'd like to give a quick rundown of his major works with my ratings...
The Driver (1978) - 7.5/10
The Warriors (1979) - 8.5/10
The Long Riders (1980) - 7/10
Southern Comfort (1981) - 8/10
48. Hrs (1982) - 8.5/10
Streets of Fire (1984) - 7/10
Crossroads (1986) - 7/10
Extreme Prejudice (1987) - 7.5/10
Johnny Handsome (1989) - 8/10
Trespass (1992) - 7.5/10
The aforementioned Red Heat is a 4, but that's brought up by the fact that I watched it as a triple bill with the hilarious Belushi vehicle Taking Care of Business (7.5) and Arnold classic Raw Deal (7/10) right after. However, I digress, because when speaking about Walter Hill, one has to realize that's a ridiculous run of top quality entertainment and it completely excludes the fact that he also wrote many of these movies while subsequently finding time to produce Alien (yes, that one) as well as write the story for Aliens. Good grief, this guy was so hot he was walking on the freakin' sun! With all that being said, his direction here is passable at best, but there isn't really much to do with a movie like this outside of hoping for a great performance from your star. Which brings us to...
Richard Pryor's greatest gift was his ability to differentiate the acerbic stand up persona he became famous for in lieu of a psuedo-family friendly everyman; virtually a carbon copy of someone you know that you feel like rooting for. This character was perfected in the incredibly underrated Moving (1988, also with King Kong Bundy), but was already quite evident here. Pryor has an easy way about him, and really shines in moments both quiet and loud, taking the relatively simple story material and making it something truly entertaining. The great film critic Pauline Kael once referred to John Candy as a human lollipop, and I find it hard to argue that given his performance here, which ranks among his very best in a, sadly much too short career that was full of brilliance. There are a lot of other strong performances in this movie as well, from several Fuji Fave's like Stephen Collins, Jerry Orbach, Pat Hingle, Joe Grifasi, Peter Jason and Hume Cronyn, but it's very much Pryor and Candy's film.
At the end of the day, I don't really feel the need to go over all the stuff I loved in the plot, as it's an easy movie that only requires a little suspension of disbelief to enjoy. I often prefer these sorts of 80's movies, as they remind me of a simpler time, before I started viewing through a more mature lens and sought out heavier material. Though I may count such films among my all-time favourites, I will never not be able to find a few hours to watch the whimsical stuff of my youth, and remember fondly on a time where I still didn't care what the girl next door's name was, and the only bill I worried about was the fiver that I misplaced in my pig sty of a room. 7/10.
