Review of ¡Three Amigos! (1986) by Stuart K — 02 Sep 2011
Once upon a time, John Landis was the king of 1980's comedy films, and here, he took on a script by Steve Martin, Lorne Michaels and Randy Newman. It's a very good homage to silent movie heroes and old fashioned westerns, and it has a good heroic trio too.
Set in 1916, it has the Mexican village of Santo Poco being terrorised by the notorious bandit El Guapo (Alfonso Arau) who wants them to pay protection money. Local girl Carmen (Patrice Martinez) sees a film of The Three Amigos, and believes them to be real, so writes a telegram to Hollywood asking for their services.
However, the Three Amigos are Hollywood actors Lucky Day (Martin), Dusty Bottoms (Chevy Chase), and Ned Nederlander (Martin Short) who have just been fired by studio boss Harry Flugleman (Joe Mantegna), but they get the telegram but mistake it as an invitation for making a film in Mexico.
They go down and soon face the real bandits, thinking they're Mexican actors, but soon the penny drops, but when Carmen is kidnapped by El Guapo, the trio decide to become real heroes and go and defeat El Guapo and save the village.
It's a very silly comedy, but it showcases 3 comedy actors at the peak of their powers in the 80's, and it is genuinely funny at times, and it was the last good film Landis made, it was sadly all downhill from here until Burke and Hare.
This review of ¡Three Amigos! (1986) was written by Stuart K on 02 Sep 2011.
¡Three Amigos! has generally received positive reviews.
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