See No Evil, Hear No Evil

Plot

Dave is deaf, and Wally is blind. They witness a murder, but it was Dave who was looking at her, and Wally who was listening.

Release Year: 1989

Rating: 6.4/10 (16,247 voted)

Director:
Arthur Hiller

Stars: Richard Pryor, Gene Wilder, Joan Severance

Storyline
A man is murdered. Two men witness it. A blind man who hears the killer, and a deaf man who sees her. The police don't think they're credible witnesses, but the killers don't want to take any chances. The two men must now work together to save themselves and bring the killers to justice.

Writers: Earl Barret, Arne Sultan

Cast:

Richard Pryor
–

Wallace 'Wally' Karue

Gene Wilder
–

Dave Lyons

Joan Severance
–

Eve

Kevin Spacey
–

Kirgo

Alan North
–

Braddock

Anthony Zerbe
–

Sutherland

Louis Giambalvo
–

Gatlin

Kirsten Childs
–

Adele

Hardy Rawls
–

Beefy Tourist

Audrie Neenan
–

Policewoman and Marilyn

Lauren Tom
–

Mitzie

John Capodice
–

Scotto

George Bartenieff
–

Huddelston

Alexandra Neil
–

Sally

Tonya Pinkins
–

Leslie

Taglines:
MURDER! The blind guy couldn't see it. The deaf guy couldn't hear it. Now they're both wanted for it.

Release Date: 12 May 1989

Filming Locations: New York City, New York, USA

Box Office Details

Budget: $18,000,000

(estimated)

Gross: $46,908,987
(USA)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Did You Know?

Trivia:

Gene Wilder went to the NY League for the Hard of Hearing to study for his role, and he was assigned to his future wife, Karen Boyer.

Goofs:

Continuity:
Kirgo's cigarette disappears from his mouth as he's rifling through Scotto's briefcase.

Quotes:

[Dave doesn't hold up any fingers]

Dave:
How many fingers am I holding up in front of your eyes right now?

Wally:
Three!

Dave:
That's good. That's pretty good, considering that he's blind.

User Review

Very funny pairing of the two wonderful comic actors

Rating: 7/10

I remember first seeing this movie when I was about five years old, and I
found it hilarious. I caught the movie a couple more times on network TV,
but this is the first time I watched it again in its unedited form.

Needless to say, Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder are both wonderful talents
with an irreplacable chemistry, and that chemistry is utilized very well
throughout. Of course, the brilliantly original premise helps as well. A
blind guy and a deaf guy who pair up to solve a murder? Classic! That
premise is used wonderfully. There's a great line where they're
interrogated and angry officer screams out, "Between the two of you, you saw
and heard everything!"

There's a lot of great fish-out-of-water humor involving Pryor's blindness
and Wilder's deafness. One of the most hilarious gags, along with the car
chase, is when Pryor helps another blind man to walk across the street, and
they end up in the back of a truck. Now that's a literal example of the
blind leading the blind. Each gag is delivered and timed very well, thanks
for the great actors and veteran director Arthur Hiller, who has directed
the two leads before in "Silver Streak."

This isn't a perfect comedy. A few gags fall flat, but the key word is
"few." Some reviewers and audiences have regarded this as the low point in
Wilder's and Pryor's careers. I think of "Another You" as the low point,
which is a horribly forgettable comedy that unfortunately was the last film
they did together.

A good deal of the gags are far-fetched, but this is a slapstick farce and
you have to expect that. That's why I always say that this is a very tricky
sub-genre and if not done correctly, the audience will totally stop
suspending disbelief and simply scoff at its foolishness.

Fans of Pryor and Wilder should not be disappointed. Also, if you want to
see an early (comic) performance by Kevin Spacey, it's also worth checking
out. Speaking of worth checking out, Joan Severance provides great eye
candy, and she has a couple of nude scenes to boot. I was born in 1982, so
this was the first movie where I saw the two comics together on screen, so
"See No Evil" is more unique to me than it probably is to others. But come
on! With scenes like a high-speed car chase involving a blind man and a
deaf man trying to escape, how can this not be regarded as a "unique"
comedy?

My score: 7 (out of 10)