It’s a story that’s been told a thousand times: Included among “Seven Samurai”, “The Magnificent Seven”, and even “A Bugs Life”, comes the story of a peaceful village under attack by a vicious intruder. A villager, in this case the lovely Carmen, reaches out for assistance in defending the village. She telegrams to Lucky, Dusty, and Ned, three silent film actors Carmen confuses for real gunslingers. The three take the “job”, assuming it to be a performance and discover (painfully) that the whole thing is real—a real village is under attack by the evil El Guapo. After being made fools of, the three eventually decide there is no other option but to fight back and bumble through a raid against El Guapo’s mission-fortress. From there, they take the fight back to the village of Santo Poco where their combined effort with the villagers scares away El Guapo’s forces.
This movie is silly—exactly as silly as I prefer my comedies to be. By hitching itself to a tried and true narrative, the characters are free to be as joyously rediculous as you can hope for. Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, and Martin Short all play off of each other perfectly as three distinct, lovable idiots you can’t help but root for. Even Alfoso Arau’s El Guapo is a clever villain and, combined with his henchman Jefe (Tony Plana), the two prove to be charming in their own right. Despite risking predictability, the film moves wonderfully, giving each gag exactly as much breathing room as needed to bring the laughs and a few surprises. Finally, the film has aged remarkably well. I’m shocked by how much I enjoyed this film and am unashamed to rate it so high.
Ok, maybe a little ashamed.