¡Three Amigos! (1986)

Highly Overrated But Still Good

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

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

Three failed silent movie actors Lucky Day (Steve Martin), Dusty Bottoms (Chevy Chase) and Ned Nederlander (Martin Short) seemingly land up with a dream job; they get an offer of 100,000 pesos to protect a small town in Mexico - the three amigos assume that this is film work and that everyone else is along for the ride, but they soon learn that what they're involved in is real and the 3 Amigos quickly find themselves having to rescue Carmen (a Mexican girl) who has been kidnapped by the evil El Guapo (Alfonso Arau) and whom is seen by El Guapo as his own personal prize.Three Amigos is a western spoof, and for me most obviously it is parodying The Magnificent Seven. In some respects it does work; the set up to the story is good as are the evil Mexican bandits (with the leader clearly being an Eli Wallach type), but sadly this western spoof doesn't work consistently enough....Where it doesn't consistently work is in the amount of laughs that the film throws up; it is fitfully amusing in areas, but not really as a whole. The film has a slapstick and silly feel to it (which sometimes works) when for example there is a good visual gag or examples of amusing dialogue, but far too often there are stretches in this film where neither element exists and you're left with some sequences that aren't that funny - some of the song and dance numbers don't really work and the camp-fire scene produces rather mixed results in the comedy stakes.Where the film works slightly better is in the occasional way that it shows the flaws with our protagonists; all of them are idiots, but in different ways; I did like the way that Steve Martin's character is called Lucky Day yet more often than not, it was him that messed everything up for his Amigos - clearly an intentional irony exists with his character. Likewise, the same exists with the other 2 Amigos with Chevy Chase being notably dim-witted; the chemistry between all 3 leads is what really keeps this picture above the water and as I said despite there being a distinct unevenness with the writing and directing it does kind of work from time to time.Whilst for me, this film was OK and quite funny at times, it is very uneven and it never works as well as it should do. Clearly, it is intended as a parody of The Magnificent Seven, but sadly it is never as good as the material that it is parodying and for that reason it can only be seen as something as a failure (despite it having some amusing moments).

A bumbling silent screen trio are hired by the naive residents of a remote Mexican hamlet to defend said town from a gang of vicious bandits led by the infamous El Guapo (robustly played by Alfonso Arau).Director John Landis ably crafts an amiable lighthearted tone, offers a flavorsome turn of the century south of the border atmosphere, and shows a genuine affection for both silent cinema and Western movie mythology. Chevy Chase, Steve Martin, and Martin Short are utterly engaging as the lovably dim-witted trio; their natural and likable chemistry really gives this film a lot of infectious charm and energy. Moreover, there are sound contributions from Tony Plana as thickskulled henchman Jefe, Patrice Martinez as fair damsel in distress Carmen, Kai Wulff as a vicious German, Joe Mantegna as flamboyant studio head Harry Flugleman, and Jon Lovitz as smarmy studio executive Morty. Better still, this film even has a lovely and uplifting central message about the necessity for courage and heroism in the face of adversity, with our three leads ultimately proving that they have the right stuff when it comes to standing up for all that's good and just. Randy Newman provides several catchy songs and does the voice of a singing bush. Kudos are also in order for Elmer Bernstein's bouncy score and Ronald W. Browne's slick cinematography. A total treat.

Three Amigos casts Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, and Martin Short as three Latino cowboy heroes of the silent screen where their obvious Anglo speech patterns will not distract from the image they create. Their actors and have the egos and fragilities of Hollywood cowboys. But they also know they're Hollywood cowboys and don't take themselves too seriously.But in a plot gambit taken from The Magnificent Seven, there's a village in 1916 revolutionary anarchic Mexico that's being plagued by a bandit named El Guapo and his gang. Like kids they take their cowboy heroes seriously and they expect these three to act like their screen images.Not so easy for these guys to do that, but once they get going they're actually inspiring in their own ways. Not to mention that in Chase, Martin, and Short you have three of the very best from the training ground of Saturday Night Live. Individually and collectively they make a very good comedy premise come to life.Best scene is in that Mexican bar when the patrons are told three distinctive tough guys are coming to town and even though these guys break into My Little Buttercup for the crowd, the patrons still act scared.How do they rid the town of El Guapo. Why have the villagers use their own special talents. What they are and how they are employed is for you to see Three Amigos and laugh your heads off.

...This movie will be the cause of it! Of course, I am kidding, as this is really a charming tribute to and spoof of the earlier days of filmmaking, as a silent era Western trio, "Lucky Day" (Steve Martin), "Dusty Bottoms" (Chevy Chase) and Ned Nederlander (Martin Short), find themselves out of work after their last movie flopped and they won't listen to the studio head's suggestion. As fate would have it, a representative of a besieged Mexican village has seen one of their movies and takes it as fact, offering them 100,000 pesos for what they think is a personal appearance when in reality they're being hired to get rid of the fiendish bandit, El Guapo (Alfonso Arau) and his crew who have been terrorizing them. Yes, this is the same basic story also told 13 years later in "Galaxy Quest", but quite likable and funny. Some of the jokes are dragged out a little too long, creating some awkwardness, but overall this is just too hard to resist. Written by Martin (who also takes an executive producer credit), producer Lorne Michaels, and singer / songwriter Randy Newman (who provides the voice of The Singing Bush), its look is just perfect, and for the most part it moves along quite well, providing not one but two scenes of climactic action. The second involves a nice bit of trickery and ingenuity; one can't help but like the characters and the bad guys are also very entertaining in their own right. A few catchy musical numbers add to the fun, with enthusiastic performances by the talented star trio, who definitely look like they're enjoying themselves. Future director Arau, who'd also been a key bad guy in "The Wild Bunch" 17 years before this, is a hoot as El Guapo, and Patrice Martinez as the impassioned Carmen is just gorgeous and immensely appealing and certainly could have had a solid film career after this. It's also great to see Joe Mantegna as the flamboyant studio head, as well as Jon Lovitz and Phil Hartman as his underlings. Particularly funny sequences include the musical number "Blue Shadows" (those horses are hilarious!), the moment where Lucky realizes the danger he and his buddies are truly in, and their assault on the bad guys' stronghold. Of course, the movie isn't just gags; the story is strong enough to sustain its length and keep viewers smiling. There are enough things here to make one laugh out loud and maintain interest (including the fantastic music score by the legendary Elmer Bernstein, whose credits range from "The Magnificent Seven" to "An American Werewolf in London" to "Ghost Busters"), right from start to finish. Eight out of 10.