User reviews

It isn't a Pieraccioni's movie. Yes, he play in that movie and he write something about that movie but he is not the director, and so it is different from the other Pieraccioni's movies, but it is funny , not like the other, but it has got a nice story too. It is not a classical italian movie but it is a mix between italian and "holliwoodian" movie!!

This spaghetti-western is worth watching only because of one thing. O.K., maybe two: the stars of the project are Harvey Keitel and David Bowie. During the first half of the movie we're dealing with some strange combination of a cowboy story, comedy (not very bright, I must say) and... family movie. Well, it's boring and it reminded me of TV series called, yes, yes , "Dr, Quinn". Something interesting starts to happen when Bowie gets on the stage, but for his appearance we have to wait for a fifty minutes (fifty three, to be more specific). If you're a fan of the "rock'n'roll chameleon", you'll see this one anyway. In case you don't admire the gentleman, you should forget about "Il mio west" - it's the kind of a flick that makes you think: why the hell someone decided to film this?

Anybody knowing the previous movies with Pieraccioni will be very mad. It's not a western, it's not a romance, it's not a comedy. It should not have been made.

Leonardo Pieraccioni is a nice, handsome man who made some successful comedy (romantic)movies in Italy, targeting the 20-30 years middle class womans. No gross matters, no sex , no curse language , I would to say no humor and no fun but it is just my opinion.

This time he make an attemp with a spaghetti comedy western and failed miserably. The plot is absurd and amateurish, the actors (pretty goods) were wasted in a crappy plot with just some glimpses . Do you want to enjoy yourself a Italian comedy? Do you want to see a spaghetti western? Simple make another choice: From Sergio Leone to Ugo Tognazzi,Bud Spencer e Terence Hill . Speaking to Tuscany ' commedians ,I would suggest Alessadro Benvenuti (prior 2000)and the early Benigni.

Several of the comments here show negative response to what I feel is really a kind of tribute film to the great Sergio Leone. This film could easily have been Parmesan cheese atop the fabulous westerns Leone and Clint Eastwood created, but I think it keeps a good blend with the genre. Yes, the main character, Doc, is speaking in Italian and English is dubbed in. But that's a big part of the charm of all "foreign" films, especially the spaghetti westerns. And having spent my childhood in Oklahoma, I thought Bowie's psychotic bad man accent was surprisingly good (although I think Dwight Yoakam would have made a better casting choice). The soundtrack, likewise, could have come off as a pale substitute for Morricone's memorable scores. I thought the choice of the Marley's reggaeesque tune was more than suitable, especially since one of the "bad guy" characters was Rastafarian - one of many colorful additions that, in my view, bring nice flavors to the genre.

My only complaint after seeing the film once is that it's too short. If it were expanded to include more about Keitel's character and his earlier relationship with Bowie's, the climactic scene could have carried more punch - maybe not along the lines of the Bronson/Fonda gunfight in Once Upon a Time in the West, but richer character development would definitely have added more suspense and contributed to bringing a well-worn genre into the 21st century.

I don't think anyone who is a true fan of spaghetti westerns would be disappointed in spending 95 minutes with a tastefully created, colorful, quirky film like this.

Shot in the Apennines mountains in central Italy, by Italian Box Office breaker Piraccioni and his friend Veronesi, this 'comedy'- of- sorts makes us crave for the days of REAL spaghetti-westerns... Apparently Bowie wanted to 'have fun' and "work with Harvey Keitel, an actor I very much admire...". Unfortunately he/they chose a bummer. This is no "Once upon a time in the West" by 'maestro' Sergio Leone. Egos clashed a few times, and , worst of all, the outcome of this Eurotrash venture is soggy stuff. Such good taste as a musician (Bowie) doesn't guarantee the same when it comes to choosing a script. I hope he enjoyed the Italian cuisine, at least! p.s. Mr Keitel, on the other hand, has a shoddy 'track record' too, with the exception of a handful of 'stand out' films and roles... thank God he hasn't learned to sing!

One wonders if this film was actually directed by a single human being with a creative thought process. The spectacular Tuscan mountain region doubles nicely for the big sky country of America, providing the only genuine energy in this moribund production. It feels as if the screenplay was generated by some sort of computer after being fed with the essential plot points of the Hollywood western. The film lurches along awkwardly, trying not to miss any of the preprogrammed beats. It's rather a grubby combination of far far better films such as "Shane", "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance", "The Shootist", "High Noon" or even that evergreen, "The Angel and the Badman". "The Gunslinger's Revenge" even throws in some "Dances With Wolves" moments among the local population of amazingly genial and chipper Native Americans. Presumably the computer weighed the variables and inserted a solid percentage of egalitarianism.

The performances -- if one could call them that -- of the actors are at the very best uniformly bland. One would hope this can be attributed to the script which relies on every Western gunfighter cliché ever produced and handcuffs the actors to characters without any range or depth.

And speaking of Lee Marvin's brilliant performance as the vile, mentally unhinged Liberty Valance...

What cinematic genius suggested that David Bowie try the ghastly pseudo-Southern dialect as the mentally unbalanced gunfighter who tracks Keitel to his hometown? One could blame the computer again. It sorted through the data and decided in lieu of being able to dress Bowie as former Nazi officer (always a quick way to establish a character as a freelance sadist), they would opt for a Confederate officer instead. Of course, it all makes perfect sense -- just like the rest of this appalling film.

Beginning with his first line of dialogue, one hopes that the main character (Leonardo Pieraccioni) will get shot. The kid is tedious. Keitel can't do anything with the script (and you can't blame him for not really trying). I don't understand the complaints about Bowie ... he's cliché, and the accent is horrid, but his scenes are the only ones offering any semblance of entertainment.

But it's the dialogue, story, and main actor that kill the film. The main characted give his lines in English, but has clearly been dubbed by a native speaker (unfortunately, not an actor). To call the result "wooden" would give ply-wood a bad name. Attempts to reclassify it as a some sort of intentionally pastiche cult comedy are wishful thinking. Not that the film doesn't inspire a degree of laughter ...

"You got a nice little town here... GREAT PLACE TO DIE!" Spoken with what could be the worst British/Southern/Western accent ever recorded, psychopath gunfighter Jack Sikora (Bowie) tries to draw out retired gunfighter Johnny Lowen (Keitel). This is not a comedy, though I understand why someone would try to pass it off as one- it IS funny to see Bowie try to act 'old west'. But, as with the 'fair catch' call in football, you have to indicate you are a comedy before the movie is released and then make moves to indicate you are a comedy. That didn't happen here, though I suspect audience response (in the US, anyway) caused those responsible for the movie to re-think their strategy and throw the comedy label on it. Oh, it is a comedy, in fact I've gotten hours of comedic enjoyment out of it already. Making sound bites from Bowie's western phrases has been a hoot (or as he might say, 'a hut'). But once you see it, you'll know that it's more of a train-wreck than an attempt at humor. "This ain't a bad dream, Johnny, it's really me", says Jack/Bowie. Indeed.

If you would enjoy seeing some of the formula characters and scenes in a western presented in new ways, you might like this. Some of these formulas are treated with quietly humorous disrespect, be warned, if you take westerns seriously. Think of a good "Gunsmoke" episode made as a movie for the level of plot depth. People were real, involved, and creatively presented. The dialog limps at times, but Keitel's personal presence compensates for some of the limitations. Scenes weren't always smoothly connected, some had a "plot requirement" feel but I do wonder what ended up on the cutting room floor. People wore dirty clothes, gunshots produced blood, town citizens were parochial and short-sighted, the basics I need to stay involved. Bowie is appropriately evil, and does sensible evil things to achieve his goals!

I was so surprised how this movie had bad writing, a worse storyline while employing a cast like Harvey Keitel and David Bowie. Not to mention the fact that, while dubbing a movie ruins a film altogether, they've dubbed the doctor's lines in English. We were wondering why that actor was so bad.

The dubbing ruined part of the intensity the actor might have brought, but it could have never made up for the multitude of flaws and the bad ending this movie had. Is it any wonder the voting for this movie is going lower and lower?

I had "Unforgiven" in the DVD player, ready to go, but put it off until the end, just to see how the movie turned out... Rent anything else but this.

Aging gunfighter Harvey Kietel returns to his family after twenty years, to find his wife dead and his only son a pacifist doctor. He's soon followed by degenerate hick David Bowie, who wants his chance to best Kietel and won't take "No" for an answer.

The first half of this tender-hearted, politically correct Italian western (the first in awhile) is pretty syrupy, but alright as long as you're not expecting a rip-roaring spaghetti western. Harvey Kietel is as excellent as always and the location photography pretty good.

Things get weird in the second half, when a scenery-chewing Bowie and his motley crew arrive to begin a vigil outside Kietel's house. Here he's quite amusing, talking with the same fake southern accent he used for his cameo appearance in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me and even getting a chance to strum his guitar and sing, that is until he bashes it over the head of another character.

I couldn't help but like it.

A mistery, a movie that have done many money but that is boring, may be a child of 8 years can do better as director. With the worst dialogues ever hearded in film industry. Also the italian dubbing is horrible (Giancalo Giannini is pathetic).

The worst movie of Harvey Keitel.

A shame in the life of David Bowie.

Stay away from Giovanni Veronesi's filmography .

Pieraccioni is desperately ugly as all the "movie" itself.

I think that Pieraccioni made one very good film that is "Il ciclone", then he used the fame he got with this movie to sell other ones. I think he should stop, and then appear again only with a movie at the same level as "il ciclone" was; otherwise he is going to ruin the good image he has now.

Lousy excuse for a western. The protagonist is hard to like at all, and his Grandfather, Harvey Keitel as Johhny Lowden, is misused and colorless. The worst part of the whole script is how a tribe of Native Americans sit at their village and wait for the village news carrier come and tell everyone of the arrival of Johnny Lowden and then David Bowie's character (one of the worst characters I've ever seen). The village never does anything but be a sounding board and then parties after the bad guy is dead, and one must wonder why the hell do they care? When the town elder foretells the future of the two meeting, it's laughable. Guess why they call it a comedy. The town loon is a poorly developed character who looses a chance to be of much value except at the end. Even Harvey Keitel finds it hard to fake laughter at the conclusion.

The western genre is not dead, but this poor excuse for a story should have been a "pass" and never green-lighted.

An absolutely dire movie. David Bowie plays a villainous cowboy, his acting is dreadful, he can't deliver lines at all in this film. His gang too look like something from a 90s music movie, all dressed up in black leather. How on earth has he got the only Jamaican cowboy in the world in his gang too? The bad female follows him round with a camera too the movie even finishes with a rap too.

I have seen some bad westerns in my time but this is hands down the most terrible western I've ever laid my eyes on.

The music, the acting, the story, none of it works. It's really kind of amazing that this actually got released.