"Another You," which teams Gene Wilder with Richard Pryor for the fourth time (after "Silver Streak," "Stir Crazy" and "See No Evil, Hear No Evil"), is rock bottom for both stars - and when you consider how many bad movies each has made, that's something.
Reportedly a production plagued with troubles on the set (Peter Bogdanovich was the first director; Maurice Phillips is credited), the film looks cheap and shoddy in its technical construction, and Wilder and Pryor, though they seem to be trying hard, barely generate so much as a smile from the audience during the film's 98-minute running time.
The leaden script (by producer Ziggy Steinberg) and manic direction keep the boys moving from one weak comedy routine to another, but none of it plays very well.
Pryor is a street-smart thief who lies to get ahead and Wilder is a gentle pathological liar who becomes more aggressive when he starts spinning his wild tales. The plot, which is too convoluted for its own good, has them mixed up in a scam to defraud the estate of a beer mogul by passing Wilder off as an heir.
Along the way Pryor pretends he can play the saxophone, Wilder and Mercedes Reuhl yodel together in a nightclub, Pryor hustles, Wilder throws fits and it all, sadly, serves to remind us of the days when both actors were thought to be enormous comic talents.
Reuhl, who received critical kudos for her funny performance in "Married to the Mob," is little more than a sex joke here, and Vanessa Williams isn't around long enough to be even that. Comedian Kevin Pollak's brief impressions of Peter Falk, Woody Allen and Dudley Moore get the film's only chuckles.
Pryor looks weak, shuffling as he walks (after the movie finished shooting he had triple-bypass surgery), and at the end of the film, they stand together as Wilder holds up a makeshift sign that says, "Partners Forever."
It's a nice sentiment - nicer than anything in the movie - but you'll still wish they could come up with better pictures.
"Another You" is rated R for excessive profanity, some vulgarity and comic violence.