trajan44 Review of My Name Is Nobody

My Name Is Nobody (1973)

Flawed but worth seeing for spaghetti western fans.

[6/10 · 27 May 2012]

I think of this movie in thirds. The first third and last third of this movie are fine. The middle third is where it gets bogged down, especially with slapstick scenes that are out of place and gratuitous. Don't blame Terrence Hill or Henry Fonda, they defined the roles and played them well. In fact, all of Hill's slapstick scenes were well played, it's just that most of them didn't belong in this type of movie, which was NOT, strictly speaking, a comedy, nor was it supposed to be one. Reading the other reviews, it seems that it was supposed to be a parody of the spaghetti western genre. This was probably a mistake. Anyway, for it to be successful, it had to stand out on its own which it failed to do. This movie could have been a good one if it took itself more seriously. Unfortunately, the plot was not fully developed with regards to Fonda's character and the mine, it was just hastily explained. This occurred along with the majority of slapstick scenes in the middle of the movie. The saloon scene was not believable. I don't think much of scenes where a character can drink massive amounts of hard liquor and still function okay. Sorry, not humanly possible. The fun house scene was just stupid and unnecessary. Hill and Fonda prevail, but really, gunfights in the dark? Think about it. There was the outdoor urinal scene with Hill and the train conductor, but this was not slapstick, it was your typical spaghetti western situation with a brief comedic moment and a resolution. It was well acted by both Hill and the train conductor. If you like the genre, this movie is still worth watching. It is too bad that Sergio Leone didn't take total control and treat this as another true spaghetti western with some additional parody elements. The script is fairly original, after all. In addition to weak plot development, the trademark Leone attention to detail was lacking. Why was Fonda wearing such a shabby coat? Fonda was believable in his role, but didn't look as imposing as in his previous role in Once Upon a Time in the West. I found out he was about 67 when he was in this movie! He looked really good for 67, the least they could have done was give him a better western wardrobe. In the part of the movie that shows the ship's sailors, I wondered if they were in San Francisco, instead of New Orleans. Does New Orleans ever get so cold that you see people wear sweaters and wool caps? Even the great Ennio Morricone was off in this one. The wild bunch theme music starts off great, then degenerates when Ennio inserts music from Wagner played on what sounds like a kid's toy harmonica? Also bad were the "sped up" slapstick scenes. They did Hill no amount of justice and would have been lame even if the movie was a true comedy. Still, it is worth watching for how Hill and Fonda played their characters and wondering what "could have been".