Some would claim that this is the last of Sergio Leone’s spaghetti Westerns – a genre he created. It started with the three Clint Eastwood ones – Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More and The Good, The Bad and the Ugly. Each one was better than its predecessor and the last is just mind-blowing and ultra-stylish. These three were followed by replacing Eastwood with Charles Bronson and his off-white coat in Once Upon a Time in the West which is hailed as a classic and had Henry Fonda as the baddie. So far so good. The last Spaghetti Western he directed was Fistful of Dynamite aka Duck you Sucker which was more miss than hit. Personally I am a big fan of Leone but didn’t like Duck you Sucker.
My Name is Nobody is based on a story by Leone and he directed some scenes. Its still unclear which ones, but fans can surmise. I watched this movie thinking even Grade B Leone should be something. Sorry, its not. The film seems to start out well – similar to Once Upon a Time and I get the impression the opening 15-20 min. were directed by Leone. After that it nosedives. There is a plot (I think) but it obviously wasn’t well thought out. There are moments that are painfully cheap and destroy what little tolerance one has for sitting through and finishing the movie. The first is the Horror House mirrors scene. Not only is it stupid and boring, but really long too and embarrassing. The second is the pissing scene which is even more embarrassing. What was the director thinking when he directed that scene. Was it funny or intelligent. NO!!! I still believe that there may have been something in the story and if Leone had written the script, directed it and taken complete control, who knows what might have resulted. In its present form, I suggest sticking to the happy memories of the Eastwood films. Really, spare yourself the torture of going through this.
By the way, Henry Fonda doesn’t do anything stupid or REALLY cheap in the movie. Terence Hill does more than his fair share. If you rent this, you will watch the whole movie after seeing the first ten minutes and thats really sad….
