La leggenda di Al, John e Jack

I caught this movie by accident on TV flipping through channels. Reading the plot summary, I thought this would be another Memento ripoff. But boy was I wrong. Oh my god I haven't laughed this hard and this long at a foreign comedy in years, if ever. This movie can be summarised as "Dumb and Dumber" meets "I Kina Spiser De Hunde", and is every bit as funny as both those movies combined. I can understand the Marx Brothers comparison, but this is Marx Brothers acting with a modern and funny script. I simply cannot understand how this great gangster comedy got such a low rating, and why it isn't already legendary as a comedy cult classic. I am pleased to read that there are others in the series, and I will certainly be checking them out. About the only criticism I have is that it does peter out a little towards the end, sacrificing comedy for a satisfying plot conclusion, but by then I had already screamed with uncontrolled laughter several times.

A friend of mine warned me about watching this movie. He told me that he had never reached the end of it. Now i can understand why. The first "serious" movie of the Italian trio is a true disappointment. I cannot believe how bad this movies is, simply because it's almost totally based on an endless dialogue among them. There's nothing special in it and i am not surprised by the fact that it received, to say the least, mixed reviews at his debut. I am sure most of the people at the cinemas wanted to leave before the ending of this mess. After the first two movies, this one will not encouraging anyone to see their next one.

Yeah, sometimes it's necessary a film like that. "La leggenda di Al, John e Jack" is not a masterpiece at all, but a lot of italians has crowded cinemas to see it. That's important! Because italian cinema needs films that enriche its industry. Anyway, "La leggenda" starts bad, is very slow during the first part, because of too many gags of Aldo, Giovanni and Giacomo. They're born in theatres, clubs and tv, and their comicness is already easy and circular. Too words to make the audience laugh. Probably they should share their movies writing with good scriptwriters as Age and Scarpelli, or Vincenzo Cerami (like Benigni do), or also the young Francesco Bruni ("Ovosodo"). But there's a good note about this movie: the plot is interesting. The structure is the same of a great film as "The usual suspects". So.. if you don't sleep after the first hour, you can enjoy a suprising end that, perhaps, is worth the ticket... Hooray for italian cinema! You should see "L'imbalsamatore" and "Respiro". We're able to write very good movies, and also comedies better than "La leggenda di Al, John e Jack"...

A truly entertaining film in which delicate humor mingles with slapstick-styled scenes. If you can see it, and that must be a true rare occasion, try it on for measure for at least 20 minutes. If it didn't amuse you, it never will. A taste for European humor is helpful, but you will meet some actors that are understandable very popular in Italy. This is the weirdest mix of Memento meets The Godfather performed by the Marx brothers but with beautiful photography, very nice details and true Italian pathos and unsurpassable gestures to emphasize the delicate Italian communication skills in times of trouble. Major drawback on story is that it leans heavily on stupid-is-as-studied-does situations. With a little more effort it could have been both funny and a thrill to watch. O yes, if you want to study Italian, this is a great way to improve your vocabulary. You will never know when you're gonna need 'cullo di gomma'. After this film, you might have an idea.

Using their expression: Che minchia di film! What a pity! Do you remember Tre uomini e una gamba or Chiedimi se sono felice? We hope for a quick comeback to the origins. Sometimes the money is the worst enemy.