This movie has a special place in my memory, it came out in 1986, and for a couple of years, it was the funniest movie on the playground. I hadn’t seen it, of course, but I could quote the hell out of it.
Movies from the 80s are a tricky proposition having rewatched some ‘classic’ films from my youth, I’ve only discovered that they were awful, really.
On the other hand, some of the movies prove to be true classics.
Is Three Amigos! a classic? Probably not but it is a genuinely funny John Landis-directed film that used the comedic talents of three actors at the top of their game Steve Martin, Martin Short and Chevy Chase.
The three main actors play three actors, silent movie heroes, who star in banal western movies, usually defeating gangs of Mexican bandits. There are some predictable plot twists, some obvious setups and the usual ending. Does this make it a classic?
No, not really. In fact, when I put the DVD in, on that blustery, monsoon style Sunday afternoon, my friends all groaned when they saw the DVD cover.
‘Get outta here… The Three Amigos? C’mon, that’s a movie that comes on TV for free!’ someone whined.
‘It’s not The Three Amigos, it’s just Three Amigos! You also have to pronounce the upside down exclamation mark at the beginning.
Where the movie shines, however, is the raw comedy. It’s not terribly clever, and the jokes are mildly funny enough for a chuckle, but not a belly laugh. One such line:
The movie is genuinely funny, but mainly because of the fine tuned comedic skills of Chase, Short and Martin they’ve got stupid looks on their faces, their dance numbers are ridiculous and the slapstick falls short of Buster Keaton, but is still great.
John Landis draws influence from The Magnificent Seven to make this parody of a Western, and it works out fine. he doesn’t quite match John Ford in filming locations, but he tries to paint the same Wild West.
The reviewers on Rotten Tomatoes were half-hearted about Three Amigos! and Roger Ebert gave it a poor review, saying that it was ‘a seminar on how to suppress Short, misuse Martin and ignore Chase.’ The reviews all seem to strike home…
Yet, I can’t help but find some enjoyment from the movie, considering that I quoted it for years in primary school without ever having watched it (‘You son of a motherless goat!’). Ebert was correct the movie could have been great, if only Landis had prodded the actors into full blown psychosis, but in the end, we’re left with a half smile and a musical number.
I say: It kept me laughing on a dismal, grey Sunday, when the rain was falling so hard that the Sydney Harbour disappeared from view.
See it for: Great costumes and sets the ‘dirty’ Mexican bandits look fantastic.
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