Richard Pryor 4 Film Collection

Richard Pryor is perhaps one the most innovative comic geniuses of our times. His life was filled with problems, many of his own doing. Through it all his self deprecating humor made us laugh with him but never at him. His ability to laugh at himself through a serious drug addiction, setting himself on fire in a cocaine induced stupor and a depilating neurological disease, Pryor held on to his insuppressible sense of humor.

Universal is paying tribute to this comic with a special four film collection. Included are four classic Pryor flicks; Bustin’ Loose, Brewster’s Millions, Which Way is Up and Car Wash. While this is a bit of an uneven mixture of some his best work and some lesser appreciated faire it is a selection that represents his career. Pryor was always pushing the envelope and as such often struck out. It is this sense of trying anything that is capture here. From the well honed comedy of ‘Brewster’s Millions’ to Pryor’s foray into multiple roles in ‘Which Way is Up’. Some times he misses the mark comically but it is usually fun to watch the attempt.

Bustin’ Loose:

Bustin’ Loose is perhaps a lesser known but genuinely one of the better vehicles for the genus of comedian Richard Pryor. Here, Pryor portrays Joe Braxton, a man whose life was full of hard breaks. An ex-con out on parole he once again makes the wrong choice and is now subject to having his freedom revoked. In the fashion only found in film Joe is given an odd way to retain his life outside of prison, he has to drive a school teacher, Vivian (Cicely Tyson) and a group of eight emotionally and physically challenged children from Philadelphia to Washington. Pryor gives his usual uneven performance here. At times the film drags as some of the same gags are almost beaten to death. For example the overly racially motivated meeting with members of the KKK is overdone and has been handled better and funnier in other films. What really manage to put the remarkable talent of Pryor on display are the moments with the children. In any film the use of handicapped children is a topic that is difficult at best to play for laughs. Take things too close to the edge of good taste and you risk offending the audience. Here, the excellent script co-authored by Pryor and Lonne Elder III (Sounder, A Woman Called Moses) and you have verbal quips and sight gags that amuse without being insulting. Pryor shows he can reel it in from his famous brand of more adult humor and create a film that the family can enjoy together. This film also portrays a more dramatic side of Pryor, some of his scenes with the children and Tyson are actually tender. Tyson is best known for her dramatic work but here she shows the audience that she can handle comedy with the same adept skill. It is a bit odd to see an actress of this caliber engaging in the silliest of slapstick comedy but the way it is handled actually works.

Brewster’s Millions:

One of the great things about movies is the capture a moment in time forever. They reflect the times and provide a snapshot of history. In a strange way the series of films called ‘Brewster’s Millions’, help to document the procession of inflation in this country. Since 1914 there have been a half a dozen films by this name. Each had the same plot, waste a certain amount of money in order to inherit a vastly larger sum. At first it was Monty Brewster (Richard Pryor) is a broken down minor league baseball pitcher. He can barely pay for the necessities of life. One day out of the blue something happens to change his life. It turns out that Monty is the sole heir to a large fortune left him by his great grand uncle (Hume Crone). Monty is the (literally) back sheep of the family in accordance with grand uncle’s bizarre sense of humor; Monty will inherit $300 million if he can waste $30 million in 30 days. There are a few catches. He cannot tell anyone about the terms, he cannot have anything left of value at the end of the 30 days and he can’t just give it away. Monty enlists the aide of an unwitting and dimwitted friend to help him spend his money. Spike Nolan (John Candy) the catcher in the broken down team, joins Monty in a wild spending spree. Of course, if all could possibly go smoothly there would be no movie. Overseeing the spending of the money is the bad guy, Warren Cox (Stephen Collins). If Monty fails his firm will gain control of the money. He is bent on making sure Monty fails. There is also a pretty young woman, Angela Drake (Lonette McKee). She has to document the spending. Since she doesn’t know the details she is shocked at the apparent wasteful way Monty is spending. Being a beautiful young woman she of course becomes the object of Monty’s affections. The ways that Monty devises to spend his money are funny and in at least one case a biting indictment of this country, he decides the best way to throw money away is to enter the race for the mayor of NYC. His campaign slogan is the pointed "I’ll only make things worse, and that’s a promise!" While there have been many versions of this theme over the years this is the best of them all. The combination of Richard Pryor and John Candy is nothing less than comedy nirvana. The two where incredible on their own but together the combination makes for some funny stuff.

Which Way Is Up?

This time out Richard Pryor plays Leroy Jones, a hapless farm worker. It seems that nothing Leroy attempts goes well; life is just out to get him and Leroy usually responds with a verbal tirade that would make the foulest mouth person blush. To make matters worse his girlfriend Annie May (Margaret Avery) won’t have sex with him. Leroy may only be an underpaid fruit picker but he is desperate for something to go in his favor. Just as it looks like something good will happen fate has a way of slapping Leroy down. When Ramon Juarez (Luis Valdez) a well known union organizer comes to the field Leroy is working our lamented protagonist finds himself as the leader of the new union. This only leads him to a conflict with local gangsters forcing Leroy to run out of town. What Pryor is able to do here is portray the ultimate downtrodden worker and look for4 humor in his plight. Some may laugh because no matter how bad things are going for you it has to be better than what Leroy faces. Pryor also tries to handle three separate roles here. Fortunately, the two besides Leroy are minor and not too distracting. Peter Sellers and Eddie Murphy may be able to pull this trick off by Pryor is better at one role at a time.

Car Wash:

This one is technically not a Richard Pryor film but it does feature a great performance by him. The film follows the lives of a group of people that work for a Los Angles car wash. This eclectic cast provides humor that is so fast paced it is almost guerrilla comedy. Pryor has a bit as the television evangelist Daddy Rich. He pulls up in his ultra long stretch limo with the vanity license plate ‘TITHE’. After the gold colored luxury car pulls up to the wash and the doors open, the Pointer Sisters emerge en masse followed by Pryor decked out in a white suite complete with a gold tipped cane and cape. Pryor’s banter is only a small part here but it is typical of his in your face attitude. This film also includes another controversial comedian, George Carlin as a somewhat confused taxi driver.

All of these films are available as an individual release. This set does sport anamorphic video for each film and a Dolby mono audio track. The video is fairly clean considering that these are not considered blockbuster hits. There are a few signs of age here and there but over all the video is reasonable. The mono sound track is restricted to the middle range but is usually clean. The films are placed on a single, dual sided, single layer disc. Since these are typically shorter films and they only have a mono sound track they fit without too much edge enhancement or compression artifacts. If you are a Pryor fan this is great way to catch up on some of his less seen work.

Posted 2/9/06