Duck, You Sucker (1972)

Simply Perfect

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

My first spaghetti western is a classic, one that seems long by looking at the running time, but grabs you immediately and does not let go. A Mexican bandit hooks up with an Irish revolutionary and gets more than he bargained for as he ends up becoming a hero to his own people reluctantly, not even wanting to be. At first glance, Rod Steiger seems an odd choice to play the Mexican, but he is not only convincing, but extremely funny and likable even playing a rather disreputable character. Teamed with James Coburn, he's fiery, while Coburn is passionate but subtle as the Irish revolutionary who shows him more than a thing or two about carrying a fistful of dynamite.The film starts off with Steiger as a passenger in the carriage heading over the Mexican wilderness, and the sudden arrival of Steiger's familia, presented in a way that is fast, furious and funny! Yes, it's violent and cruel, ending up with surviving naked men and one scantily clothed woman heading back in the wilderness with the open wagon suddenly tossing them over, a symbolism of the ghastly poor getting it over on the cruel and idle rich. But then along comes Coburn as a man on his own mission, telling Steiger and the gang, "Duck, you sucker", blowing things up in the cleverest of ways.If other spaghetti westerns are as entertaining as this, I'm about to go on a spree, especially those directed by Sergio Leone. I'm glad that Clint Eastwood is not in this one, having pretty much been a part of the beginning of the genre, but not right for any of the roles here. Steiger and Coburn are as different as can be, but they play off of each other nicely. This is an exciting adventure and buddy film that brings two culturally different men together to share common ideals that may seem foreign to the common man not into fighting a revolution, but remaining potent and stirring nearly 50 years later.

I remember when, during my teens, I went once to see a Western that had just come out, one of many. As all those growing in the 50s, 60s, I had had my fill of U.S, Westerns, which was practically all we kids of that era had as screen fun so I thought WTH. But then the lights went out and there, out of nowhere, comes this poncho wearing guy, the coolest cat in the universe, riding a mule and killing four baddies in a flash. I knew at that moment that I have found my ultimate hero. The modern day version of the Achilles, Captain Nemos I had been reading about. It seems I digress but I'm simply answering the question many ask, why DYS is never considered at a same level with the Dollars classics: because the Classics deal with Myth while DYS deals with the cruel and stark realities of revolution and civil war. And reality will never match myth.By the late 60s Leone had grown tired of SWs and wanted to change, something he had been gradually showing in his past movies anyway, in the evolution of his characters. For ex. in the increasing use of the flashback to give us information on them. In FOD there is just a hint when Joe says to Marisol that he once knew someone like her. In FAFDM the flashback not only gives depth to Indio, Mortimer, but also ties them up, put them inside a (pyschological) box from which they can't escape. Slowly but surely Leone's SWs go from action to character driven and characters themselves become more and more determined by their own psyche and history rather than by events. This is even more clear in GBU, where events, even a Civil War battle, leave them untouched, as they were there more to give a context to their struggle than to influence them in any way. OUATITW is where Leone touches the real world, but smart as he is, he knows that what the masses keep asking for is the cool, faster drawing stranger, i.e. the myth. Striking an unlikely balance he still goes to greater depth for his characters but keeping the heart of the myth, which makes of the film a compromise of myth and reality. Characters here are realistic, well developed, they have histories and backgrounds. And the events they go through are life changing—contrary to what happened in the dollar trilogy.It is in DYS where Leone finally ends his journey from myth to reality: he totally drops the myth and replaces it with conflicted, war/world weary, ordinary people. At that time the entire world was going through great political upheaval, Europe was being shaken by tremendous political tremors, not to mention Latin America, and clandestine political movements espousing violence were popping up all over so it is no wonder that this context heavily influenced his work. That's what startled the most the usual SW fan, that there is no myth anymore in which to seek refuge, no more stranger coming into town and redressing all wrongs.Leone said that once this movie was about friendship but I beg to disagree: DYS is above all about human weakness, betrayal; most of all about disillusionment. The most powerful scene in the whole movie--and probably his best scene in his acting career--is when Coburn's John locks stares with Sean in the pub (Sean asks him for a mercy killing, if you ask me) The montage with the action in the locomotive is truly unforgettable. While I praise Leone for this superb moment, I can only marvel at Coburn playing it to perfection, carrying the pathos of both situations in a single facial expression, then refusing to commit another mercy killing. This is a disillusioned man who wanted to have faith again and came to Mexico to try once more and here he found the perfect subject, a man as disillusioned as he. But after making a hero out of him he realizes that there is no gold at the end of the revolutionary rainbow, that human nature will always bring weakness, betrayal and then disappointment.In all, another brilliant movie by Leone but don't expect to see it any day soon at the top of any Classic Movies list. 9/10.

I have no problem overall with the movie. The story is decent, albeit a little far fetched, but after all, this is fiction. But the movie is near 2 1/2 hours long. A half hour could be cut just by decreasing the amount of time the actors stare at each other. Sure, I know it's a Sergio technique, but it doesn't work well when there's little tension. When the bad guy is staring down the good guy in Once Upon a Time in the West or the Good, the Bad, the Ugly there's real tension there. Two unarmed guys staring at each other in an empty room, not the same thing. There are also disjointed moments in the film, like when Miranda's (Rod Steiger) kids are lying about dead in a cave. Didn't see that happen. And why did Mallory shoot his friend in the Irish pub? Again, overall a solid film. Classic? Nope, fell far short of that for me.

Sergio Leone's best film, in my opinion. That doesn't say much, though to some it might. In my opinion the four movies he is most famous for - Once Upon a Time in the West, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More - are okay but are vastly over-rated. Slow, badly produced, with holey plots, ridiculous dialogue and hammy acting, especially by the supporting cast. The only things preventing those from being total failures was the action scenes and, in three of them, the acting of Clint Eastwood.A Fistful of Dynamite is better in all those respects, without compromising on the action. Decent plot, though not entirely watertight. There's even a few nice themes running through it. Themes of patriotism, family, loyalty and camaraderie.Dialogue is OK. Has some silly moments but mostly fine.Performances are fine. Rod Steiger and James Coburn put in solid performances in the lead roles and the supporting cast don't embarrass themselves.Production is still reasonably cheap though. You get the usual effect of it appearing as if the actors voices have been dubbed in, rather than being recorded live.This is also shorter than those four, which is a blessing. There are still some pointless and/or drawn out scenes but these are more limited in number than the other four. Helps the pacing of the movie too.The main issue with this one is the fact that the soundtrack consists of one song and that seems to be on an infinite loop...Ultimately a very engaging and entertaining western.