Banana Joe

Of course I was familiar with the 1982 movie "Banana Joe", as I had watched it in my childhood. However, I only very vaguely remember the movie, and thus I opted to sit down and watch it again here in 2024, as I was presented with the opportunity to do so.

Writers Mario Amendola, Bruno Corbucci, Steno and Carlo Pedersoli (Bud Spencer's actual name), put together an enjoyable script and storyline. Sure, one might argue that "Banana Joe" is an archetypical Bud Spencer movie, and right they are. But this form is what works and it is these types of movies that Bud Spencer made so well. So of course it was quite enjoyable to watch him in this 1982 action comedy from director Steno. It is a story that takes the audience wide and far as Banana Joe goes on quite an adventure.

Of course I was only familiar with Bud Spencer on the entire cast list. But it should be noted that the acting performances in the movie were generally good.

If you enjoy the old movies starring Bud Spencer and Terrence Hill, then you definitely will also like "Banana Joe" from director Steno.

My rating of "Banana Joe" lands on a six out of ten stars.

Joe is a good man, that lives in a south American forest commercing bananas in surrounding villages. He doesn't have a surname, an identity document, a selling licence: this became a problem when local crime attempt to seize the bananas commerce of the state...... A good comedy, ironic (in the style of Corbucci), and with the usual iron punch of Bud Spencer! (here without his classic buddy Terence Hill).

Italo comedy about a simple burly banana salesman who gets into wacky situations while trying to obtain a license to sell bananas. Everything is over-the-top and Cheesy with a capital 'C' (and the crummy dubbing doesn't help matters). Very uneven movie that halfway kept my attention, made me laugh once or twice with it's cartoonish humor, but also had plenty of annoying moments. The song sequence in the middle, the sound effects, and the repeated 'Joe Blow' joke come to mind as especially awful. Even as background watching this fails for me, it's just so unbearably stupid... but at the same time I can see it having an audience.

This movie has been in my mind for a while because I watched it when I was a little kid and I have fond memories of it, and because I found this movie very funny in my child mind, I decided to rewatch it after more than 30 years, and after I finished Banana Joe, I realized why I found it so funny when I was a child because this movie is so silly and dumb in every sense and only a 7-year-old child can find it funny.

When I was a child, my family had one television, and there was only one channel, so I had no choice other than Saturday cartoons. I remember this movie being frequently shown every Sunday, and it seemed fun, so I watched it. This movie was made in 1982, which is the year I was born, and I have to say its humor is not only terribly aged; it's also so juvenile and idiotic, and the editing is terribly done; unrelated scenes just merge with each other without any sense; all characters are basically cartoony caricatures or stereotypes, so actors played these characters with exaggerated manners; and the main character is big, burly, uncivilized, illiterate, and dumb as a rock banana seller. He didn't know his surname or his family; he didn't have an identification card or a license for trading bananas. As an American, he also didn't know how he came to Colombia. Is he an illegal immigrant, or was he just born here? We just didn't know about this character. Plot, which is about a cartoony capitalistic dude who wants to build a factory Banana Joe's small village and our big hero try to prevent his mission and get a trading license in some comedic situations and adventures that are so silly and cheesy. There are also some pathetic attempts to create physical comedy, which only little kids can find amusing and laugh at.

If you consider this movie a kid's movie, that's fine, but Banana Joe lasts more than 1:30 hours, so for an adult audience, it's just a waste of time. I just watched this movie for nostalgic purposes, and I don't regret spending time on this silly and stupid movie, despite the fact that I probably lost a few digits from my IQ. I also want to say that I love the exotic and tropical southern Colombian settings and catchy background music, but that's the only positive thing I can say about this outdated movie.

And that's exactly what it is; pure bud enjoyment. OK, it's not a Fellini and in the stream of the ''big booted comedies'' Spencer and hill got us used with, this one fits perfectly. But look closer. Buffoons are never recognized to their full value. If Pedersoli was to play dramatic roles with the same intensity as the one he gives to his comedy characters to make us happy, he would have been one of the most recognized actor of the times. Unfortunately, in banana Joe people tend to see only the comedy part of the movie. But the satyr about the economic system and the bureaucracy is so delightful... I gave this movie a score of 7 for overall quality and intelligence in its credo. Thank you Mr. Pedersoli for having made the choice of becoming a comedian over a dramatist.