Every week at SiftPop.com, we challenge our writers to come up with their favorite answer to a movie-related prompt tied to a recent release. This week, with the release of Wolfs, we’re discussing some of our favorite movie duos! Let us know your favorites @SiftPop!
It’s a bit of a cheat code for a great movie duo to be birthed by a great writing duo. That’s the case in Blazing Saddles, with Mel Brooks and Richard Pryor as the main creative forces behind Cleavon Little’s Sheriff Bart and Gene Wilder’s Jim, better known as the Waco Kid. Brooks and Pryor pulled zero punches in their shockingly honest caricature of the Wild West. Bart is spared from the noose, but placed in an even more precarious situation as a Black sheriff in a not-so-progressive town. He’s an idealist who needs someone to ground him to reality. Jim is a legendary gunslinger who combats drowning in a heavy dose of reality by drowning himself in alcohol. He needs Bart’s optimism to drag him up from the depths. Beyond perfectly complementing each other, they are an ideal pairing for their effervescent charm and wit. Equal credit goes to the writing of the characters and to the chemistry between Little and Wilder. Even their first meeting culminates with Jim’s hilarious, “Then we’re awake, but we’re very puzzled” line. The leap to being best friends is virtually instantaneous yet wholly believable. Every scheme, they pull off to perfection, and every racist townsperson whose defenses they erode with relentless charisma, it is an absolute delight to watch. There’s no duo more deserving of happily riding off into the sunset together. (Jason Mack)
When it comes to films that allow family-oriented duos to manifest, it doesn’t get any better than one of the darkest but most touching comic book films, Logan, directed by James Mangold.At the time, it was Hugh Jackman’slast hurrah as Wolverine. The film takes place in 2029, in a future where mutants are victims of genocide, thanks to the U.S. government repressing the X-gene. A mutant hasn’t been born in over 20 years; Wolverine is losing his healing power; Charles Xavier has a degenerative brain disease and has occasional seizures, which can be dangerous for a telepath. The year before, Charles had a seizure at his school, referred to as the Westchester incident. The seizure injured over 600 people (assuming they were mutant students at the school) an inadvertently killed the X-Men. Yes, in this dark timeline, all the X-Men are dead. Wolverine and Charles are left to fend for themselves. That is until they encounter a little girl, X-23, also known as Laura (Dafne Keen), a mutant with the same powers as Wolverine, who is revealed to be his daughter. Keen does an excellent job showing viewers how Laura evolves from a dark, violent warrior to a curious child who bonds with Logan throughout the film. The film shows how violence can degrade humanity. However, it shows Laura understanding the value of human life. Logan is a dark but touching film with soul and humanity even amidst its darkest moments. (Christian Grullon)
In a world full of monsters of all shapes and sizes, there are two who stand out and have become beloved figures in the world of animation. Mike Wazowski is such a strange little creature with his round, green body and giant eye. Billy Crystal brings so much energy to this neurotic little guy. Sully is a big, colorful beast with the right amount of purple and blue. John Goodman has the big voice of a large man (and monster), as he feels like the sweet and cuddly pal you could ever ask for. Their dynamic is charming and perfect, as Mike is Sully’s biggest cheerleader. Monsters, Inc. does a great job of putting their friendship to the test for the sake of its overall story. The chemistry is perfect and their journey to fall in love with an adorable little girl and discover that laughs are more powerful than fear is as endearing as anything. (Shane Conto)
When it comes to films that really let duos shine, it doesn’t get more classic than the buddy cop film. If you take that formula and suck it dry of any warmth and semblance of happiness, you get one of the best neo-noir partnerships of all time in Se7en. It very much holds to the formula with a rookie detective, Mills (Brad Pitt), and a seasoned veteran nearing retirement, Somerset (Morgan Freeman), as they try to track down a serial killer murdering based on the seven deadly sins. I’m a sucker for serial killer tales, and the premise of this one immediately grabs your attention. The dark crucible that is this particular investigation has a way of forging Mills and Somerset’s partnership remarkably fast. Both Freeman and Pitt are fantastic, and their best is brought out with a villain reveal that cranks things up to 11. It’s a dark twist on a classic formula that makes this duo an all-timer. (Jake Bourgeois)
Look, if an ogre and a donkey can overcome their differences to become best friends, overthrow kingdoms, oligarchy, magic, and the butterfly effect, they’re a far more capable duo than you think. Mike Myers and Eddie Murphy have such impeccable chemistry and nuanced timing that they tricked everyone into thinking DreamWorks is on Pixar’s level. There is not a comedic duo in the entirety of film history I would rather watch on loop for eternity more than Shrek and Donkey. Their jokes hit just as much now as when they first came out. And beneath all the humor is a layered friendship between two outcasts who found each other in the woods 20-plus years ago, either running or humoring from the society that hated them. If I had the ability to rewatch the Shrek franchise for the first time again, I would do it in a heartbeat because of Shrek and Donkey. (Sam Nichols)
Woody (Tom Hanks) was pleased with his setup of running the little toy community in Andy’s room. Since he was Andy’s favorite, he was on top; he called the shots and was the one who decided on how things went down. When Andy’s birthday came around, he reassured everyone that new toys should be welcomed and that no one would be replaced; what mattered was that they were still there for Andy. This made a lot of sense when he said it. Still, when Buzz (Tim Allen) shows up and dethrones Woody as the number-one toy in the room, it becomes clear Woody never really believed what he was preaching — he was just as annoyed as any other toy would be at the idea of a new toy being played with instead of them. To make matters worse, the toy that replaces him is delusional, thinking he is the character he is a toy of, and Buzz takes no interest in Woody’s insistence that he is a toy. When Buzz does learn what he is, Woody attempts to reassure him that being a toy isn’t that bad, and it’s possible at first he is only saying this so Buzz will help him escape. But in the process, he realizes he took his situation as Andy’s favourite for granted, and that Buzz was the one that deserved that position. From this point on, they work together to escape and become friends. (John Tillyard)
The Sir Arthur Conan Doyle-imagined investigative duo of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson are easily one of the best literary pairings ever depicted on film. The combination of Sherlock’s perception, encyclopedic knowledge, and deductive skills pair perfectly with the patience and loyalty of the down-to-earth doctor. Though we have had dozens of interpretations of this detecting duo over the years, none dazzle on screen quite as brightly as that of Sirs Michael Caine (Sherlock) and Ben Kingsley (Dr. Watson). 1988’s Without A Clue puts a twist on the established roles of the well known twosome by portraying Watson, not Holmes as the genius behind their investigative excellence. Caine is so adept at playing the inept detective that you can easily feel the frustration of Kingsely’s character every time Sherlock opens his mouth. I hesitate to go into any further detail about what makes the dynamic between this iteration of Holmes and Watson so great, because even at almost 40 years old, it’s definitely worth going into unspoiled. Caine’s Holmes is both pompous and preposterous, leading Kingsely’s Watson to be exceedingly exasperated at his idiocy. The banter between the two is top-notch, and the physical gags peppered between still make me laugh after decades of viewings. (Patrice Downing)