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Film:  Silver Streak

A strange film from 1976.  I'm guessing it was the first Gene Wilder-Richard Pryor collaboration.  Very episodic.  Pryor doesn't enter the film until at least the halfway point, if not later, and then plays a major role.  They would never make a film quite like this today - it belongs to a bubble of films like Foul Play, Fletch, 48 Hours, and even Midnight Run - which are essentially crime thrillers which happen to be cast with comedic actors.  We think of them as comedies because they have comedic set pieces.  In this film, the big bit is when Gene Wilder needs to hide from the cops and Richard Pryor dresses him up in black face and he pretends to be black to get on the train.  It's very funny.  Reminiscent of Eddie Murphy playing a cop in the hick bar in 48 Hours, Charles Grodin and DeNiro improving Treasury Agents to steal money in Midnight Run, and Dudley Moore revealing himself as a sex maniac in Foul Play.

But the key difference with these films and the comedies of today -- the plots and scenarios of the film are treated as realistic and serious -- and they actually aren't technically comedies.  Take The Heat, for instance, in the end, they are still trying to wiggle jokes out of the bad guy taking Bullock and McCarthy hostage by sticking a knife into her thigh.  This would never happen in any of the above-mentioned movies because our heroes are actually in danger.  They might say a funny quip, but the scenes are designed for action, not for comic bits.

I definitely think this film influenced Midnight Run, but Midnight Run is a far superior movie in nearly every respect.  The scenario is better.  The acting is better.  It is much funnier.  Silver Streak is actually a bit clunky getting going if you ask me.  Also, there is a gigantic train crash at the end which is pretty pointless, but nevertheless pretty cool to watch because I'm thinking:  jesus, I really think they destroyed some stuff to get this shot.

One last thing - Silver Streak and Foul Play are very much riffing on Hitchcock scenarios and adding on top comic actors.  The later (and better) action comedies, like 48 Hours, Midnight Run, Beverly Hills Cops, etc, tend to be riffing off more Western themes of justice, masculinity, etc.