See No Evil, Hear No Evil (film)

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

1989 film featuring Richard Pryor as a blind man, Wally, and Gene Wilder as a deaf man, Dave, as they are blamed for a crime they did not commit. Hilarity Ensues as they work together to stop the real criminals.

Tropes used in See No Evil, Hear No Evil (film) include:
  • Blind Driving / Take the Wheel: Wally ends up having to take the wheel and navigate according to commands shouted by Dave, who is handcuffed and can only operate the foot pedals.

Wally: "These streets are bumpy."
Dave: "YOU'RE DRIVING ON THE SIDEWALK!"

  • Blind Weaponmaster: Sutherland can shoot rather well despite being blind, as he uses his hearing to locate people.
  • Brandishment Bluff: Dave breaks into the hotel room of the woman trying to kill him and rifles through her bag, only to find her showering, and blinded by the soap. When he accidentally makes a noise that makes her run out, he sticks his hand in his pocket and pretends that his erection is a gun in order to escape.
  • Buddy Picture: The two friends have to save the day despite their disabilities, with Dave acting as Wally's eyes, and Wally acting as Dave's ears.
  • Cluster F-Bomb: A policewoman taking Dave's photo is relaying information through Wally, which results in a misunderstanding where Dave keeps facing away from the camera. This results in her repeating "shit" some twenty times in rapid succession.
    • Because he can only read lips, Dave wonders why she says "ship" so many times.
    • While pushing a car, Dave and Wally have this conversation.

Wally: "But I say fuck it, I'm not going to worry about him. Fuck him!"
Dave: "You swear an awful lot."
Wally: "You're fucking-a right!"
Dave: "Fucking-A! Something bothers you, fuck it! Your wife leaves you, fuck her. Your boss fires you? Fucking-A. Fuck it! Fuck! Fuck 'em! Fuck it! Right?"
Wally: "You're fucking right!"

  • Darkened Building Shootout: A shootout occurs in a dark building -- with a twist, as Wally and the Big Bad being blind is what causes the "darkness".
  • Disabled Snarker: Both Dave and Wally have heavy sarcastic streaks.
  • Dramatic Irony: Dave has one of the burglars cornered and start ordering him to drop the gun, turn around, etc... unaware there's a squad of cops right behind him since he's deaf.
  • Flashed Badge Hijack: Parodied when a bad guy pretends to be a cop and tries to commandeer a car. The driver demands to see a badge. The bad guy just gives up and produces his gun instead. The driver gives up his car, complete with a whimpered "Please don't kill me."
  • Foe Yay: There are a couple of these moments between Dave and Eve
  • Handy Helper: Throughout the film, Dave is constantly steering Wally away from danger, while Wally relays information to Dave by speaking in his view so he can read his lips.
  • Missed Him by That Much: During the climactic confrontation between Wally and the Big Bad in the latter's office, with the two men sometimes unknowingly passing within a few feet of each other. This is justified by the fact that both men are stone blind.
  • Salt and Pepper: This is the third of four films that paired up Richard Pryor with Gene Wilder.
  • Shower Scene: Eve is showering. The scene then changes when Dave sneaks into the bathroom to steal her bag. She has her eyes closed because of the soap, and Dave spends a good minute staring at her as she slides the door open, leans out, and reaches right next to him to grab the bag, and he has to pretend it's been on the shelf while watching her.