The Woman in Red (1984)

The Woman in Red is yet another of those movies that have been on my watchlist since the dawn of times and that, for a reason or another, I've been putting off forever. Since it's only an hour and a half long and lately I don't have a lot of time to watch movies, I finally watched it. 

The story follows Theodore "Teddy" Pierce (Gene Wilder), a happily married family man who would never even consider cheating on his wife, Didi (Judith Ivey). Things are about to change when he meets a beautiful woman in red (Kelly LeBrock) — he's smitten by her and totally infatuated and he tries various schemes only to realise that cheating is not as easy as it looks.

It comes without saying that The Woman in Red is a dumb movie, one with an extremely simple and thin plot featuring some predictable twists. The only positive thing I can say about it is that it goes straight to the point without wasting tons of time to set up the story, and because of this the laughs begin immediately. Kind of, actually, as the majority of the jokes and gags fall as flat as a board. 

The writing doesn't get any better in terms of characters as they all have no depth whatsoever — the male characters are just a bunch of men who are either having an affair or thinking about and/or trying to have an affair; the female characters too are a bunch of women cheating on their husbands. Basically, there isn't a single likeable character in this, not a single one of them to root for — I guess we are supposed to root for Teddy, especially after learning that his wife is already cheating on him, but I was just disgusted by every single one of these people I couldn't pick one to root for. 

Orion Picture

And now the acting. I've always enjoyed Gene Wilder so far but in here he's pathetic, to say the least. He plays a desperate and frantic character who is supposed to be the main source of laughs, but Wilder's material is so poor, he is unbearable to watch. Kelly LeBrock is nothing but eye candy, and the rest of the cast does nothing other than essentially reading their lines.

In a few words, The Woman in Red is a huge misfire from Wilder, and, while there are some funny-ish moments here and there and Stevie Wonder's songs are fantastic, the film is overall a quite unfunny and tedious comedy whose short running feels like an eternity.

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)

As I was feeling ashamed for having seen that Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie with Johnny Depp (I saw it only once, by the way, I was a kid and I wasn't crazy about it) but not Gene Wilder's classic (I've only seen bits and pieces on TV), I decided to watch Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. 

Chocolate and candy maker Willy Wonka (Gene Wilder) announces that 5 golden tickets can be found in his chocolate bras granting a tour of his factory and, only for one of the five lucky people, a lifetime supply of Wonka chocolate. Nobody wants to find the golden ticket more than Charlie Bucket (Peter Ostrum), but he is poor and can't afford to buy a lot of chocolate. His grandpa, Joe (Jack Albertson), however, encourages him to keep a positive attitude and right when he thinks his dream will never come true, he finds a dollar on the street and buys the bar that happens to have the last remaining ticket, and gets to take a tour of the mysterious factory along with other four kids from around the world.

Though I already knew the plot and therefore I could anticipate what would happen, the story still managed to be very entertaining and engaging, the main reason being the way the story is told --quite clever lyrics to advance the plot --the songs are pretty catchy too. Also, the way the few eccentric twists are delivered is quite intriguing.

The lyrics aren't the only clever aspect of the film. The story is indeed simple but smart, and the credits for that go to Roald Dahl, the author of the book upon which Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory is based on. The first part of the story is a brilliant satire on how people give so much importance to random, useless things, how media gets carried away with these things, and how everyone forgets about the important things. The overall story has a moral about being honest and true to yourself and shows that parents are the only to be blamed for a spoiled child.

Paramount Pictures

The film's greatest strength probably is the characters though. They all are memorable, especially the Oompa Loompas, and it's impossible not to like them, even the odious and annoying ones, like all those other kids and their parents basically. And Charlie is a character you really root for and care about as he is so sweet, selfless and good-natured, and Peter Ostrum plays him in such a way that makes him one of the most likeable child ever. Jack Albertson also does a good job as Charlie's energetic and loving grandpa Joe.

But there's another actor and character that steal the show, Gene Wilder and his Willy Wonka. His characterization is incredibly charming and funny, he finds the right balance between joy and creepiness, and the way he goes from calm and happy to outranged --which really reminded me of his performance in Young Frankenstein (I haven't seen the movie but I've seen clips everywhere)-- is mind-blowing. 

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.