My Name is Nobody (1973)
The start of this movie is as archetypal and fabulous as any Sergio Leone movie, and it suggests another great stab at the old genre. Even knowing that it's a spoof doesn't take away from the high drama that is really possible with such great filming and pacing. And it reminds you that the earlier Spaghetti Westerns were spoofs, too, in their own way.
But the idea is really thin here, and stretched too long, and with some annoying music, so that sometimes you can't believe it's the same film. Henry Fonda is pretty amazing in his stoicism. He never quite winks at us pulling it off. The main lead is little known Terence Hill, who never has a name (or his name really is Nobody), and he's meant to be more cute than cool, a new kind of good guy who's so fast with guns he never has to snarl, but just confidently goes his smiling way. The final showdown reveals the whole concept to things and it's great fun the first time.
I totally loved this movie when I was a kid. I just watched The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and maybe I'd had my fill of this kind of excess, with the single idea (supplied by Leone, we are told in big letters) not enough for a full length film.
The start of this movie is as archetypal and fabulous as any Sergio Leone movie, and it suggests another great stab at the old genre. Even knowing that it's a spoof doesn't take away from the high drama that is really possible with such great filming and pacing. And it reminds you that the earlier Spaghetti Westerns were spoofs, too, in their own way.
But the idea is really thin here, and stretched too long, and with some annoying music, so that sometimes you can't believe it's the same film. Henry Fonda is pretty amazing in his stoicism. He never quite winks at us pulling it off. The main lead is little known Terence Hill, who never has a name (or his name really is Nobody), and he's meant to be more cute than cool, a new kind of good guy who's so fast with guns he never has to snarl, but just confidently goes his smiling way. The final showdown reveals the whole concept to things and it's great fun the first time.
I totally loved this movie when I was a kid. I just watched The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and maybe I'd had my fill of this kind of excess, with the single idea (supplied by Leone, we are told in big letters) not enough for a full length film.