A Genius, Two Friends, and an Idiot (1975)

Simply Perfect

Absolutely the worst movie.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

A bizarre comedy/western hybrid with star Terence Hill, who, with his usual partner Bud Spencer, was one of Italy's brightest stars back in the late '60s/'70s. Here, Hill goes it alone with this many-titled movie which rips-off the work of Sergio Leone at numerous points but still succeeds in being a unique little movie, mainly through the cross between silly jokes and slapstick humour and more action-orientated, old-fashioned western behaviour. While not an entirely successful movie, A GENIUS, TWO PARTNERS AND A DUPE moves fast, has a plot to keep your head spinning and is occasionally brilliant.Things start off as they mean to go on with that most clichéd of western traditions: the duel. Here, Hill's opponent is the inimitable Klaus Kinski who plays Doc Foster, a devious card-player with murder on his mind. Incredibly, Hill's gun flies out of his pocket to shoot Kinski's gun from his head, which gives you some idea of the surrealist humour to expect in this movie. After this initial set-up, which doesn't bear much relevance to the rest of the film other than to play with Leone's conventions and introduce the cocky, joking Hill, the complex plot begins.What happens is far too detailed to go into here, and I would be lying if I said that I was fully following what was going on throughout. Basically it involves Hill and his cohorts trying to outwit Patrick McGoohan's Major Cabot, who in turn is trying to outwit them. Along the way a tribe of western-dressed Indians, that old staple of the Great Western-Pacific Railway and numerous minor characters get involved. Like Leone, director Damiano Damiani plays with the camera at points, dwelling on moments of silence in some instances and going over the top with others. Ennio Morricone's score is a great asset, as it plays with many classical music pieces as a counterpoint to the on screen action.My favourite parts of the film were all at the end, with various characters chasing each other in a very old-fashioned way. Some of these scenes are hilarious, like when Hill and some chasing guards hurdle over a number of barriers while a Beethoven riff plays over the action. It has to be seen to be believed. The characterisation is also strong in the leading characters, who have a touch of THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY about them in that generally they all hate each other and spend the movie fighting amongst themselves. Hill's smug presence takes some getting used to but he fits the bill well, and has enough charisma to carry it off; Charlebois is good as the gruff drunk caught up and lost amid the craziness, and the bizarrely named Miou-Miou is perfect as the token female. McGoohan gives a memorable performance and has one of the most amusing voices ever, whilst the supporting cast flesh out their roles with effectiveness.Allover, not a great film, certainly not up there with the Leone westerns, but more of a fun take on them instead. While I may not have enjoyed all of the movie, Damiani's direction is at times inspired and deserves some credit. I'm sure that in time I'll get to see more of these Italian comedy/westerns and perhaps find out what they're all about.

"A Genius, Two Friends, and an Idiot" also titled "Trinity Is Back Again" is a Western satire with a bemusing premise , there is plenty of action in the movie , guaranteeing shootouts , fights or stunts every few minutes ; however , being regularly directed by Damiano Damiani . It's an improbable blending of standard Western , tongue-in-cheek , silly humor , Comic-book and realized in Spaghetti/Fagioli/Trinity(Terence Hill-Bud Spencer) style . It deals with an expert conman named Joe Thanks (Terence Hill) who remembers the character ¨Nobody¨ from ¨Il Mio Nome e Nessuno¨ or ¨My name is Nobody¨ by Tonino Valeri . Joe teams up with Mestizo Bill Locomotiva (Canadian singer , Robert Charlebois) and naive Lucy (Moiu Miou) to rob a lot of money from a nasty Army officer . Joe is a genius with several qualities as ubiquity , controlling space and time and fast gun . As three rogues set out to steal $300,000 from an Indian-hating cavalry major Cabot (miscast Patrick McGoohan) supported by his Sergeant Milton (Raimund Harmstorf) . Their elaborate scheme is full of disguises , treason , and pursuits , but Joe along with half-breed Steamengine Bill always seem to know what they are doing . The two gunmen using his wits , break all the rules and kicking virtually every cliché in the pants carry out their objectives .Spaghetti/Schnitzel/Paté Western parody co-produced by Italy/Germany/France , it is packed with ridiculous situations , noisy action , exaggerated roles and lots of silly humor .This is a surprisingly low-key Spaghetti Western in which three diverse characters joining forces to rob a cache of money . This amusing as well as absurd picture contains a funny plot , action Western , shootouts and bits of campy and embarrassing humor . During filming took place a distress , parts of the original camera negative were stolen , so the film makers had no choice but to assemble many scenes from alternate takes , until today the original negative has not been found It displays an entertaining screenplay written by usual Ernesto Gastaldi , but shot by a filmmaker with no sense of humor . Amiable but sometimes lumbering Western satire goes on and on about the same premise , as a lot of minutes are superfluous ,it has half hour of excess , as it packs overblown jokes and antics and some moments turns out to be dull and tiring . This overlong film mingles slapdash, silly scenes , chases , double-crosses and it's fast moving and embarrassing .There appears customary Spaghetti actors such as Benito Stefanelli , Mario Brega , Raimund Harmstorf , Reno Girone , Rik Battaglia , and of course Klaus Kinski . The musician Ennio Morricone , composes a jolly soundtrack with catching leitmotif and well conducted. Colorful cinematography plenty of barren outdoors , sunny landscapes under a glimmer sun , stunningly photographed by Giuseppe Ruzzolini on location in Monument Valley , Utah , a favorite place habitually used by John Ford and also Sergio Leone , here producer . This was a failed farewell in Western genre from Sergio Leone , and ordinary secondary actors as Mario Brega and Klaus Kinski as a grumpy gunfighter who is ridiculed by the genius Terence Hill . The motion picture was middlingly directed by Damiano Damiani and lavishly produced by Fulvio Morsella and Sergio Leone . Damiani's so-so direction is regularly crafted, here he's mostly cynical and humorous and less inclined toward violence and too much action especially on its ending part . Damiano is an expert on all kind of genres as Drama (¨Arthur's island¨ , ¨The Most Beautiful Wife" , ¨The witch¨ , and ¨Empty canvas¨ based on the Alberto Moravia novel) , Terror (Amytiville 2 : the possession) , Historical (¨The Inquiry¨) , Spaghetti Western (¨Trinity is back again¨and the prestigious ¨A bullet for the General¨ again with Klaus Kinski) . Damiani was specialized on crime-thriller-Subgenre or Italian cop thriller (¨Confessions of a Police captain¨ , ¨How to kill a judge¨, ¨The case is closed , forget it¨, "Goodbye e amen" , ¨Mafia¨, "I Am Afraid" and ¨Warning¨ starred by Martin Balsam) . Rating : Average , 5 . Only for Terence Hill fans .

Terence Hill has appeared as various characters in Spaghetti-Westerns, most of which are based on the "Trinity"-series, later fetched out into the "Nobody"- and "Lucky Luke"-characters. "Nobody" remains one of Hills most terrific (solo)-performances and it's no big surprise that this film was billed as a "Nobody"-sequel in many countries, despite Hill playing a completely different character, namely Joe Thanks, Trinity, not so much Nobody, in all but name.Let's talk about the acting first: Robert Charlebois as Joe Thanks semi-Indian sidekick seems an odd choice, yet, somehow the Canadian chansonaire somehow manage to pull the role off. Miou-Miou is cute like a button, Raimund Harmsdorff is a force of nature and Patrick McGoohans performance makes you feel like clapping. As in any movie he had starred in, Klaus Kinski steals the best part – albeit, his 'Doc Foster' disappears, virtually blue-balled, during the first ten minutes. This would remain one of the few Kinski appearances in a comedy and Werner Herzog didn't lie when he said, that Kinski had a very good sense of humour – just, many people don't know how to appreciate it.A word of warning here: many a great movie has been utterly destroyed by inept American dubbing: to mind come "Das Boot" or "Christiane F – Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo". "A Genius, Two Friends and an Idiot" fits into this mould, the (US)-English synchronization being completely unbearable. I personally recommend the German-dub version (I believe, Kinski speaks himself), which has the right balance between straight-faced and farce.For fans of the Bud Spencer/Terence Hill "Trinity"-Westerns and post-Bud Spencer Westerns, "A Genius, Two Friends and an Idiot" is a must-see.

Not as obviously or patently a Sergio Leone movie as MY NAME IS NOBODY from a few years earlier but still as Leonesque as a movie can possibly be while still playing ball in Enzo Barboni's slapstick turf (quite possibly the worst spaghetti western niche), this RAFRAN produced movie is heavily flawed but eminently watchable even when it doesn't make a lick of sense. Leone being Leone, he had to stick in his hand, even in a movie in which he had no creative stakes (unlike My Name is Nobody). The opening scene is a masterclass in directing as one would expect from a master cinematician even if it amounts to little more than moody silence and gliding tracking shots. Those who appreciated the slow-burn dynamics of ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST, will be spellbound for the duration. It's a fantastic opening to a movie that never quite capitalizes on it. The script is mired in inconsequential distractions and tacky "end of the West" commentary delivered without an ounce of subtlety ("the old man will go away", says Hill about an old Indian chief in the end as the rest of his Indian band prepare to take off without him dressed in fancy clothes and hats, "he represents the old West" #%^!) and the goofy hijinks Terence Hill became known for do the movie little favour but every now and then director Damiano Damiani comes up with a scene or a setup that impresses with its visual splendor. The Carlo Simi-designed sets, the beautiful locations in John Ford's turf in Monument Valley, and the technical skill involved in front and behind the camera (not Ennio Morricone's score though, which is far from his best work), are all far better than 95% of spaghetti westerns could ever afford, then or a decade before, so this should still be of some interest to the hardened spaghetti aficionado. Traditional Ford/Hawks loyalists should keep their distance though.