Sonny and Jed

I've been thinking about watching this movie for almost 20 years, but always put off because of the general bad reviews I always read about it. I gotta say these reviews belong to the time the movie was originally released, 1972. They all agree that the movie is silly and that Corbucci made it with the left hand. So far from the truth. Watched today, J&S is a master spaghetti-western, totally on the average of the best Corbucci. Besides the very good Tomas Milian's performance, the witty dialogues, the fabulous cast (Susan George, Telly Savalas, Laura Betti), the charming winter-time Almeria desert locations, the fast pace of the narration and the excellent Morricone's score, J$S stands out for the memorable Jed and Sonny characters and for the love Corbucci shows, once more, for the losers, the marginals and the misfits. There's no clue Corbucci made it just to be on the track of then box-office Spaghetti-western hits like, e.g., Trinità. J&S is a genuine tale about two people trying to survive and keep their freedom in a world which didn't give them any chance. References to Bonnie & Clyde? Not so many. More simply, Corbucci and his writers face the theme of the criminal couple on the run, and do it with an original (and witty) point of view. Which here seems to be the dichotomy nature vs. society. And if you think Corbucci is chauvinist in the way he describes the relationship between Jed and Sonny (at the beginning Jed treats his woman literally like a dog), wait until the ironic end of the movie to express your judgement. Definitely, Corbucci knew what he was doing.

Have always been a great fan of Susan George and have seen most of her films and this particular picture I discovered on E Bay and it was a great find to enjoy the great acting of both Susan George and Telly Savalvas. Of course this is a Spagettii Western and a comedy but it is not your usual run of the mill type of film. There is plenty of vulgarity and romantic scenes and a rough relationship between Jed, (Tom Milian) and Sonny, (Susan George). Jed is an very crude man who is a robber and he meets up with Sonny who seems to take a liking to him even though he treats her very poorly. Jed and Sonny become something like a Bonny & Clyde team who go around stealing and robbing everyone they come in contact with. Sheriff Franciscus, (Telly Savalvas) is out to get these two people and even though he becomes blind still manages to try and hunt down these two criminals. This is a great film and if you get a chance, don't miss this great Susan George Film.

This latter-day Spaghetti Western boasts a good cast (Tomas Milian, Susan George, Telly Savalas, Laura Betti, Eduardo Fajardo, Rosanna Yanni and Herbert Fux) and is enjoyable while it's on...but the misogynist traits of Milian's character in particular and the general unpleasantness of it all leaves a bad taste in the viewer's mouth. In essence, this is a vulgarization of the Bonnie and Clyde myth in Western garb with Jed (Milian) an illiterate brute with Robin Hood pretensions and Sonny (George, just off Peckinpah's STRAW DOGS [1971]) is almost always on the point of being raped by all and sundry. Among the gallery of grotesques that cross their path are blinded lawman Savalas, whorehouse madam Betti and sex-starved aristocrat Yanni. Ennio Morricone provides the typically eclectic music score but I wouldn't say it's one of his more memorable works.

Woody Allen's "What's Up Tiger Lilly?" was his comic interpretation of a Japanese kung fu film. I realize that Allen had nothing to do with "Sonny and Jed", however the four letter word laced dialog is at times funnier than "Tiger Lilly". Somehow this overlooked curiosity has remained in "spaghetti" obscurity despite the presence of Thomas Milan, Susan George, and Telly Savales. Although this is definitely a parody of the Sergio Leone classics, including a fine Enio Morrocone score, it could come as quite a shock to the "Trinity" crowd, especially in the almost constant use of the "F'" word. There really is no story, just a series of episodes with Milan and George playing a western variation on "Bonnie and Clyde". - MERK

I'd wanted to see SONNY AND JED for a while thanks to its provenence: the great Sergio Corbucci directing, and starring a fine triumverate in Tomas Milian, Telly Savalas and Susan George. Sadly, this turns out to be nothing more than a misfire, with the actors encouraged to overplay it at all times in the name of some extremely broad comedy, and a general lack of cohesion. Savalas appears at the beginning but then vanishes for most of the screen time, while Milian's anti-hero is one of his most irritating. And poor George is unsuited to her tomboy role and comes across as a little too shrill and histrionic. It's watchable enough for genre enthusiasts, but a far cry from the best of this kind of film.