See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989)

User Review

• 

  BarneyNuttall

  7 / 10

  This screwball comedy has a blast utilising a fun dynamic whilst also redefining what the word disabled should mean. While it suffers from 80s sexism and a plot that sits in the backseat of this vehicle, Pryor, and Wilder both drive this comedy wagon with a fair amount of laughs.
  
  See no evil, hear no evil is obviously built around this one dynamic; it's what makes the film attractive. Pryor's vacant eyes and Wilder's blissful ignorance play of each other brilliantly as they fumble their way through a contrived plot. With Pryor playing the self-prescribed asshole and Wilder performing with a comforting melancholy, the two have brilliant energy on screen.
  
  Some of the film's other characters are also great fun. Detective Braddock is fun of parody of police mentality, pleading to shoot Pryor and Wilder after their innocence is proven with a childish whine. Anthony Zerbe's blind Sutherland acts as a wonderfully funny 'final boss' for the film's ultimate villain and Kevin Spacey contributes the usual sarcastic tone that is always a joy.
  
  However, while some may choose to ignore this, I simply cannot. I know the film was made in the 80s but Joan Severance's Eve is literally a walking pair of feminine legs: literally! There are several scenes where interactions with her character are very uncomfortable which may have been funny then but now make me wish I was both blind and deaf.
  
  The film does advocate for awareness of disability, with Wilder comparing being deaf to being a leper in the public's eye. Of course, this message is served as a side dish, alongside the comedic main course, yet its poignance remains until the film's end.

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