A cold-blooded killer provokes a legendary gunslinger into coming out of retirement to see who's really the fastest gun in the West.A cold-blooded killer provokes a legendary gunslinger into coming out of retirement to see who's really the fastest gun in the West.A cold-blooded killer provokes a legendary gunslinger into coming out of retirement to see who's really the fastest gun in the West.
- Awards
- 1 nomination total
Jim van der Woude
- Joshua
- (as LimVan Der Woude)
Kwame Kwei-Armah
- Rastafarian
- (as Kwame Kwei Armah)
Stephen Joseph Scott
- Lieutenant
- (as Lorenzo Wilde)
Featured reviews
Several of the comments here show negative response to what I feel is really a kind of tribute film to the great Sergio Leone. This film could easily have been Parmesan cheese atop the fabulous westerns Leone and Clint Eastwood created, but I think it keeps a good blend with the genre. Yes, the main character, Doc, is speaking in Italian and English is dubbed in. But that's a big part of the charm of all "foreign" films, especially the spaghetti westerns. And having spent my childhood in Oklahoma, I thought Bowie's psychotic bad man accent was surprisingly good (although I think Dwight Yoakam would have made a better casting choice). The soundtrack, likewise, could have come off as a pale substitute for Morricone's memorable scores. I thought the choice of the Marley's reggaeesque tune was more than suitable, especially since one of the "bad guy" characters was Rastafarian - one of many colorful additions that, in my view, bring nice flavors to the genre.
My only complaint after seeing the film once is that it's too short. If it were expanded to include more about Keitel's character and his earlier relationship with Bowie's, the climactic scene could have carried more punch - maybe not along the lines of the Bronson/Fonda gunfight in Once Upon a Time in the West, but richer character development would definitely have added more suspense and contributed to bringing a well-worn genre into the 21st century.
I don't think anyone who is a true fan of spaghetti westerns would be disappointed in spending 95 minutes with a tastefully created, colorful, quirky film like this.
My only complaint after seeing the film once is that it's too short. If it were expanded to include more about Keitel's character and his earlier relationship with Bowie's, the climactic scene could have carried more punch - maybe not along the lines of the Bronson/Fonda gunfight in Once Upon a Time in the West, but richer character development would definitely have added more suspense and contributed to bringing a well-worn genre into the 21st century.
I don't think anyone who is a true fan of spaghetti westerns would be disappointed in spending 95 minutes with a tastefully created, colorful, quirky film like this.
This spaghetti-western is worth watching only because of one thing. O.K., maybe two: the stars of the project are Harvey Keitel and David Bowie. During the first half of the movie we're dealing with some strange combination of a cowboy story, comedy (not very bright, I must say) and... family movie. Well, it's boring and it reminded me of TV series called, yes, yes , "Dr, Quinn". Something interesting starts to happen when Bowie gets on the stage, but for his appearance we have to wait for a fifty minutes (fifty three, to be more specific). If you're a fan of the "rock'n'roll chameleon", you'll see this one anyway. In case you don't admire the gentleman, you should forget about "Il mio west" - it's the kind of a flick that makes you think: why the hell someone decided to film this?
If you would enjoy seeing some of the formula characters and scenes in a western presented in new ways, you might like this. Some of these formulas are treated with quietly humorous disrespect, be warned, if you take westerns seriously. Think of a good "Gunsmoke" episode made as a movie for the level of plot depth. People were real, involved, and creatively presented. The dialog limps at times, but Keitel's personal presence compensates for some of the limitations. Scenes weren't always smoothly connected, some had a "plot requirement" feel but I do wonder what ended up on the cutting room floor. People wore dirty clothes, gunshots produced blood, town citizens were parochial and short-sighted, the basics I need to stay involved. Bowie is appropriately evil, and does sensible evil things to achieve his goals!
Leonardo Pieraccioni is a nice, handsome man who made some successful comedy (romantic)movies in Italy, targeting the 20-30 years middle class womans. No gross matters, no sex , no curse language , I would to say no humor and no fun but it is just my opinion.
This time he make an attemp with a spaghetti comedy western and failed miserably. The plot is absurd and amateurish, the actors (pretty goods) were wasted in a crappy plot with just some glimpses . Do you want to enjoy yourself a Italian comedy? Do you want to see a spaghetti western? Simple make another choice: From Sergio Leone to Ugo Tognazzi,Bud Spencer e Terence Hill . Speaking to Tuscany ' commedians ,I would suggest Alessadro Benvenuti (prior 2000)and the early Benigni.
This time he make an attemp with a spaghetti comedy western and failed miserably. The plot is absurd and amateurish, the actors (pretty goods) were wasted in a crappy plot with just some glimpses . Do you want to enjoy yourself a Italian comedy? Do you want to see a spaghetti western? Simple make another choice: From Sergio Leone to Ugo Tognazzi,Bud Spencer e Terence Hill . Speaking to Tuscany ' commedians ,I would suggest Alessadro Benvenuti (prior 2000)and the early Benigni.
"You got a nice little town here... GREAT PLACE TO DIE!" Spoken with what could be the worst British/Southern/Western accent ever recorded, psychopath gunfighter Jack Sikora (Bowie) tries to draw out retired gunfighter Johnny Lowen (Keitel). This is not a comedy, though I understand why someone would try to pass it off as one- it IS funny to see Bowie try to act 'old west'. But, as with the 'fair catch' call in football, you have to indicate you are a comedy before the movie is released and then make moves to indicate you are a comedy. That didn't happen here, though I suspect audience response (in the US, anyway) caused those responsible for the movie to re-think their strategy and throw the comedy label on it. Oh, it is a comedy, in fact I've gotten hours of comedic enjoyment out of it already. Making sound bites from Bowie's western phrases has been a hoot (or as he might say, 'a hut'). But once you see it, you'll know that it's more of a train-wreck than an attempt at humor. "This ain't a bad dream, Johnny, it's really me", says Jack/Bowie. Indeed.
Did you know
- TriviaDirector Giovanni Veronesi stated in an interview that David Bowie answered to his proposal to take part to the movie in 48 hours, telling him: "you are crazy proposing me this movie, but I'm crazier because I'm accepting". Bowie's only condition was to have an accommodation without barking dogs within a radius of 3 kilometers, so they had to do a sort of raid around the countryside and same Veronesi adopted some of the dogs they picked up.
- GoofsThe telegraph office has what appears to be a reel-to-reel film projector, some time before the beginning of the twentieth century.
- SoundtracksEveryone Wants to Be
Written by David Marley and' Stephen Marley'
Music composed by Ziggy Marley/Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers
Vocals by Wyclef Jean (as Wycleff)
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $10,000,000 (estimated)
- Runtime
- 1h 35m(95 min)
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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