It Can Be Done Amigo

Bud Spencer teams up with a kid in this rather charming, but cheap, Italian comedy Western. Jack Palance provides back up as a cigar chomping, riled brother of a chick Spencer slept with, hoping to marry Spencer off and then kill him (to save face). They all end up in a town run by Sheriff/Judge/Reverend Francisco Rabal, who wants the property that the kid's inherited. But why? That's up to Spencer and the kid to find out, but needless to say the kid's sitting on a fortune.

This mostly harmless western has Spencer as the reluctant hero, protecting a kid he doesn't want to protect and getting into many punch ups. Palance turns up periodically to save Spencer (he wants to kill him himself) and for some reason he's got an accent that turns from Southern to Mexican for no reason whatsoever. Everything's played pretty light (no one gets killed, save for the kid's uncle who has a heart attack).

As with all Italian comedies, the laughs are played very broad (verging on slapstick), and there's unintentional and intentional laughs. There's also a touching moment when the kid starts showing Spencer a bit of affection and you can see Spencer's torn between his duties in looking after the kid and his own need to get out of town. The film also benefits from having one of the least annoying kids in Italian cinema (If you've seen House by the Cemetery or Sweet House of Horrors, you'll know that's no understatement).

The abrupt ending seems to endorse wife-beating, however, so I'm not sure what that was about! Did give me a laugh, though…The print I viewed was awful - drained of colour, pan and scanned, with a weird echo for the first 30 minutes.

Hiram Coburn is not the typical spaghetti western protagonist. He doesn't use a gun, instead opting to pound his opponents silly with his fists, and although he is as powerful as an ox, he is mellow and laid back to an annoying degree. He takes some getting used to, but by the end of the film I found myself liking this character. Jack Palance plays Sonny, an eccentric gunslinger (what Palance does best). He is very entertaining, and I would have liked to have seen more of him in the film. The weirdest thing about him is that his accent keeps changing. Sometimes he sounds like he is from the southeastern US, other times he sounds Mexican, and other times he sounds like he's from Chicago or something. I don't know if this is intentional or not, but it sure is odd, and odd is a good thing in a spaghetti western.

The music score by Bacalov is excellent. It reminds me of some of Morricone's work, which is pretty much the best compliment one could give.

The story is great, and just about the most original one I've ever seen in a spaghetti western. The movie is a comedy, but not to the extent that it becomes completely unbelievable. I may have given this movie a higher rating if I saw it in a more complete, widescreen version. The version I saw, which I assume is the most commonly available, is approximately 98 minutes long if I remember correctly, and it feels like it's been edited somewhat to shorten its length.

All in all, this one's a must-have if you are a spaghetti western nut like me.

While not exactly the same plot as True Grit, it is definitely in the same vein, but this time with slapstick humor interjected throughout. Bud Spencer chops his opponents into submission and Jack Palance goes from goon to goof as the story unfolds.

This has all the parts of a Spaghetti Western: Decent theme song, genre character actors, settings, etc. but winds up a few feet wide of the mark. The humor is decent, especially some of the interactions with Coburn and the boy, and it is an entertaining movie, but I never really warmed up to the gentle giant Coburn (Bud Spencer) and believed his connection with the kid. And I feel like I just have to at least mention the awkward spousal abuse ending ... I guess it was just being historically accurate? Anyways, there are better Western All'Italiana.

Rating: 18/40

Bud Spencer wanders the west, finds time to help a young orphan/landowner targeted by greedy villains, and keeps having his bacon saved by Jack Palance. However, Jack's motives are anything but altruistic, as he blames poor Bud for allegedly deflowering his sister and plans on marrying her off to him before making her a respectable widow!

Lots of Rowdy fights and amusing gags, including the hilarious oil-soaked climax, keep this breezy, lightweight spaghetti western moving along quite nicely.

It Can Be Done... Amigo features what is probably Spencer's best solo performance, apart from his films with frequent on screen partner Terrance Hill, though A Reason To Live, A Reason To Die, which featured him as part of an ensemble cast, was a better film.

Meanwhile, Palance portrays the same black clad, chuckling, chain-smoking weirdo you've come to know and love from a lifetime of similar western roles. Needless to say, fans of these two won't be disappointed.

One thing that I found odd though, was Palance's changing accents. Sometimes he talked using his own voice, other times he spoke with a southern accent, and still others with a Spanish accent!

Ivan Coburn (Spencer) deflowered the sister of the fastest gun around, Sonny.(Jack Palance) Sonny wants Coburn to marry his sister so she wont live in shame, and then Sonny wants to kill Coburn. During all this Coburn has to take care of a small boy named Chip Anderson whos uncle died from a gun shot. I laughed alot during this movie....many fights and one liners....This movie was much better than I thought it would be. I think it's for Terence Hill and Bud Spencer fans only...or if you like the whole sphagetti western thing. There is something unusal in this film....there's a guy who pays 2 dollars for a bucket if dirt..and then he eats it!!??? (he's looking for soil with oil in it.) The start to this is also funny.....Coburn complains to his horse through the whole credits because it wont move, but when he sees a man with a gun the horse jumps to it's feet!

My vote is 6/10. A good movie for people who like "They call me Trinity" style movies!