See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989)

I didn't remember why See No Evil, Hear No Evil ended up on my watchlist (it was because of Kevin Spacey, by the way), but the title intrigued me, I saw it was a comedy with Gene Wilder and I watched it. 

David Lyons (Gene Wilder), a deaf man who runs a convenience store, befriends and hires Wally Karue (Richard Pryor), a blind man. Then a murder is committed in the store and they both witness it. Because of their impairments, they can't identify the murderer. Also, the police suspect them of the murder and arrest them. That's when the real killer (Joan Severance) and her associate (Kevin Spacey) show up as they don't want to take any chances, David and Wally manage to escape and it's up to them to clear their names while both police and actual murders go after them.

What follows is a very simple and very non-sensical plot --like in Dumb and Dumber, only See No Evil, Hear No Evil was made five years before-- that, in spite of its flaws, still manages to be effective and keep you interested throughout the whole running time. 

But the credits don't go to the writers, but to the leading duo, Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor. I haven't seen their previous collaborations --I believe this is their third film together-- but I think it's safe to say they are a match made in heaven. First, their performances. Both Wilder and Pryor are very convincing in their roles, the first as the deaf man and the latter as the blind man, and they are consistently hilarious. Then, there's the chemistry. They have such a great, natural chemistry and that's basically what keeps the film running smoothly. 

TriStar Pictures

The supporting cast is no less. Though far from being his best performance, Kevin Spacey does a good job as Kirgo, one of the criminals trying to kill the duo, and it was nice seeing him before his career took off. Joan Severance is both funny and sexy as Eva, the other crook. Alan North though easily steals the scene as the bad-tempered cop who is trying to catch David and Wally.

See No Evil, Hear No Evil is also funny from start to finish. A few jokes fall flat, but most of them are perfectly timed and very effective --they are pretty juvenile and idiotic though. The slapstick works very well, and there's plenty of hilarious moments to enjoy. My favourite? That scene where the policewoman tries to take a photo of David after the arrest.