Sonny and Jed

Sergio Leone, the king of spaghetti westerns, would never have dreamed of making a western like "Sonny and Jed." It is a poignant film that was considered daring at the time of its release and is now labeled by many as a cult classic. Tomas Milian, who took the stage name "Tomas" after his prime role model: Tomas F. Dobb, plays Jed in an unforgettable role initially intended for Rodney Dangerfield. Susan George plays Sonny, Jed's one-true love and partner-in-crime. This is a "Bonnie and Clyde" of the west. It isn't a great film, but it seems to entertain most of the time. The best performance in the film, by far, is by Telly Savalas. He plays a blind sheriff who is determined to catch Sonny and Jed dead or alive by using any means necessary BY HIMSELF! Savalas steals every scene he is in and rightfully so. The final line in the film, "Sonny, I love you, you M**********r!", is right up there with the final line in "Gone with the Wind". Some believe it's more touching than the "Gone with the Wind" line. This is one of those hard to find films like "A Town Called Hell", "Blood and Guns", and "Villa Rides." Get it if you can.

Guns and violence are pretty synonymous with the Spaghetti Western genre; and while this film has all that stuff, the real reason Bandits is so good is not because of it; but because of the central characters and their relationship, and works so well mostly thanks to excellent performances from the beautiful Susan George and the immensely talented Tomas Milian. The film takes obvious influence from the famous story of Bonnie and Clyde, and indeed the most shocking thing about this film is the misogynistic nature of the lead male character. The story focuses on Jed; a good for nothing bandit who has little respect for anybody; friend or foe. His life is changed one day when he runs into a wannabe bandit by the name of Sonny, who he later finds out (much to his annoyance) is a female. They get split up after a robbery goes wrong, but fate soon brings the pair back together and they soon win themselves a reputation and have a price put on their head, leading the determined Sheriff Franciscus to chase the pair; stopping at nothing to bring them to justice.

Bandits has two central plots; we have the idea of the pair being wanted and chased by mercenaries, and also the relationship between them. It's the latter plot that is by far the most interesting and the one that director Sergio Corbucci is most keen to focus on. He ensures that both of his central characters are extremely well fleshed out and this benefits the film immensely as the audience is really made to care for them. This genre is not well known for well put together characters, so that makes this film all the more surprising. Tomas Milian is undoubtedly the film's biggest standout and I would have no qualms putting him right near the top of an all time greatest actors list. He leads the film amazingly well and we're never left in any doubt as to who the star of the show is. He gets good support from Susan George in one of her best roles and Telly Savalas who is effective as the lawman. It all boils down to a conclusion that brings closure to both of the main plots and while Sergio Corbucci will always be better remembered for Django and The Grand Silence; this is still an excellent Spaghetti Western and not one to miss!

"Sonny and Jed" starts out okay but after a while it runs out of steam. After it runs out of steam, it actually starts to get annoying. The cast is fine. Telly Savalas does a nice job (unfortunately, his character takes a turn toward the ridiculous). Forever dreamy Susan George does her best with pretty weak material. A dreamy Rosanna Yanni has a great last fifteen minutes or so but the star of the movie, Tomas Trigado, is mostly annoying. He brings nothing to the table. The biggest problem with "Sonny and Jed" is the script. It provides a few good moments here and there but it's mostly pretty bad. I won't be watching this movie again any time soon.

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