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Stir Crazy

Stir Crazy

Comedy · Crime · 1980

New Yorkers Skip Donahue and Harry Monroe have no jobs and no prospects, so they decide to flee the city and find work elsewhere, landing jobs wearing woodpecker costumes to promote the opening of a bank. When their feathery costumes are stolen and used in a bank robbery, they no longer have to worry about employment — they're sent to prison.

Movie details

Stir Crazy

“Two jailbirds who just want out of the cage.”

1980 Comedy · Crime 1h 51m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.5 / 10

Community rating

New Yorkers Skip Donahue and Harry Monroe have no jobs and no prospects, so they decide to flee the city and find work elsewhere, landing jobs wearing woodpecker costumes to promote the opening of a bank. When their feathery costumes are stolen and used in a bank robbery, they no longer have to worry about employment — they're sent to prison.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Stir Crazy?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

Big Stan

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Three Fugitives

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To escape from a mobster, businessman Gaetano Proclo orders a cab driver to take him to a place where he can't be found. Unfortunately for Gaetano, the place turns out to be a gay bathhouse.

One Night at McCool's

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Comedy · 2001

On an ordinary night, in an ordinary part of town, a beautiful young woman walks into a bar. Her name is Jewel, and before long she is chatting to bartender Randy. The pair leave together, but he ends up getting into a tussle with her criminal boyfriend, who she then shoots dead, later persuading Randy to take the rap for her. But this isn't the end of it, as both Randy's cousin Carl and the detective assigned to the murder case also fall for Jewel's charms and find themselves caught up in the ensuing events. It seems that any man who meets Jewel falls instantly in love with her, and she's going to use this fully to her own advantage, leaving a trail of havoc in her wake. It also seems that she is going to get away with it - that is, until Randy decides to hire a hitman...

Identity Thief

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Henry's Crime

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An aimless man is sent to prison for a crime he did not commit, an ex-con targets the same bank he was sent away for robbing.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Sidney Poitier

Written by

Bruce Jay Friedman

Gene Wilder

Gene Wilder

Skip Donahue

Richard Pryor

Richard Pryor

Harry Monroe

Georg Stanford Brown

Georg Stanford Brown

Rory Schultebrand

JoBeth Williams

JoBeth Williams

Meredith

Miguel Ángel Suárez

Miguel Ángel Suárez

Jesus Ramirez

Craig T. Nelson

Craig T. Nelson

Deputy Ward Wilson

Barry Corbin

Barry Corbin

Warden Walter Beatty

Court is in session

Put Stir Crazy on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Cool Ironist

“It owes the canon nothing.”

The movie pursues immediacy and audience pleasure without begging institutions to certify its worth.

The prosecution The Prestige Tourist

“Easy pleasure, short half-life.”

It moves efficiently through the moment but offers little reason to keep arguing once the credits end.