Its movies like The Frisco Kid which are right up my alley - a totally bizarre, odd ball comedy. A movie which feels like a classic Hollywood western but about a man who is in a totally alien world. The odd pairing of actors Gene Wilder and Harrison Ford works like a charm. Just like how you wouldn't expect these actors to team up, you wouldn't expect a rabbi and a Wild West cowboy to be a duo. There's such pleasure watching the two interact and develop their odd, endearing bromance; Tommy (Ford) has no reason to stay with Avram (Wilder) other than he's formed a liking to him. Harrison Ford goes from space cowboy in Star Wars to actual cowboy in The Frisco Kid, showing he really had a knack for playing ruffians. However his character is not just a Han Solo redux. Unlike Solo he's not just out for himself but wants to give a helping hand to underdogs.The Frisco Kid showcases the absurdity of faith, but also celebrates it at the same time. Rabbi Avram Belinski follows his faith to a tee (despite being ranked almost last among his peers strangely enough). He would put his life and the lives of others on the line for the Torrah or in order to obey the Sabbath. Yet Tommy defends and even lauds Avram's actions as a man dedicated to his faith, even if he put his life in danger for religious reasons.Likewise the Native Americans they encounter along their travels have a failure to understand the God of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. In one dialogue exchange, the Indian chief is perplexed that this God can make rain yet he doesn't because as Avram puts it, "that's not his department". Yet the chief asks if he wanted to he could, and Avram replies yes. Yet Avram contradicts this statement later in their discussion when he proclaims God can do anything; the chief responds with "then why can't he make rain?" and Avram loudly states "because he doesn't make rain!". However on top of this Avram tells the chief that there is only one God and that he's your God too. Take that as a bit of falsifying another's faith.However The Frisco Kid is a movie which showcases peace and unity between cultures. Along his travels Avram encounters whites, blacks, Native Americans, Christian monks and the Amish. When he first encounters the Amish he mistakes them for rabbis due to their similar attire, perhaps symbolising that we're not all so different. Here Gene Wilder shows he is an actor who is not afraid to celebrate their religion and culture on screen; even if he is playing a neurotic Jew but not in an annoying way. The Frisco Kid is a movie which could possibly appeal to the both the religious minded and the atheist alike.

I just saw this for the first time (I somehow missed it when it was released) last night. Admiring Gene Wilder (who I most closely associate with Silver Streak and Young Frankenstein, two top comedy favorites), I expected to laugh a lot. I didn't.There were some very funny moments, but this was about 75% drama, with this poor Jewish rabbi having all sorts of serious calamities befall him as he tried to cross the U.S. from Philadelphia to San Francisco in 1850. One early scene has him not just being conned out of $50 trying to help two other men travel west, but as they take him along, they suddenly start beating him up--with a bloodied face of Wilder making this not at all comical--before they take his bags and clothes and throw him off the stage.To make that scene at all funny, you needed no blood and Wilder not being visibly beaten. Maybe a quick scene where the bad guys pull a gun and say, "Now we want the rest of your money" and we suddenly see him sitting on the roadside, in his long underwear, showing the results of their robbery without the unpleasant moments where they rob him.This is the type of thing that seems to dominate this film. Some good comedy, but lots of death-defying serious episodes that take away most of the comedic atmosphere.Other reviewers have gone over the many inaccuracies and illogical portions of this film. They were numerous enough to obstruct my enjoyment--even though I usually overlook things like that in a comedy.Possibly the dumbest scene was where Wilder and Ford have chased away the bad guys (killing one of them) and are now happily swimming and laughing when the remaining bad guys confront them, holding their guns on them. Intent on killing our heroes--for killing the one bad guy's brother--it was idiotic of them to let the good guys get anywhere close to their own guns, just so we could have an extended gunfight. The guns had been left on the beach and the bad guys had the drop on the good guys. The bad guys should have easily been able to grab the guns while the good guys were swimming, or shoot before they could retrieve the guns.Too many poorly-written scenes like this and humor parsed out way too seldom kept me from finding this film worth watching. I think I'll watch Silver Streak again this weekend--it too had some intense drama, but the humor was much more frequent, allowing me to overlook the film's flaws.

I had not seen this film in almost 15 years, I had really liked it as a kid. I pick up the DVD. I still think that it is a nice gem. A modest little comedy with 2 very endearing performances by Gene Wilder and Harrison Ford. Wilder plays a Polish rabbi that comes to America and needs to get to San Fransisco, he has a lot of bad luck along the way. He meets a bank robber played by Ford,and they develop a great friendship. The comedy is mostly Jewish, it helps to know some Jewish customs to really get the jokes. I find that the friendship makes the movie more than just a comedy. It is very endearing to watch Ford's character protect the rabbi in spite of being driven crazy by him. I would say that it is a great buddy movie. Anybody who likes both actors will be satisfied, especially with Wilder. He has a vulnerabilty that is instantly likable.Grade: B+

This movie has always been close to my heart, not only as a Jewish/Gentile comedy but as a great combination between naive slapstick and the "dumb but slick brute" in Gene Wilder and Harrison Ford. Growing up, my parents used to laugh even harder at the Yiddish words I didn't understand. As I got older, and learned to fill in the blanks, every part of this movie is something special and keeps getting funnier as I age. Horrifically stereotyped as it may be, its still feel-good comedy that I hope my children will enjoy...someday. To me, Gene Wilder is at his best and Harrison Ford still has his fresh, rogue attitude straight from 'Star Wars'. The result is a high-energy, must-see laugh-fest!