Sometimes, great movies are the ones with finely-crafted characters who make important discoveries about life; sometimes they’re the ones with breathtaking cinematography or groundbreaking special effects. And sometimes, they’re just fun. Enter the Three Amigos. The story’s ridiculous, but it works because of Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Chevy Chase, who I don’t think has ever committed as much to any role more than Dusty Bottoms (and he doesn’t commit much to Dusty). Plus, there are few villainous duos who are as likeable as Alfonso Arau as El Guapo and Tony Plana as Jefe. The script is hilarious, full of slapstick comedy and quotable jokes that come almost every minute (my favourite is “It’s a sweater!”). However, it’s built around well-known and loved story archetypes; it’s more complicated than it seems, but that’s reading too much into it. Nazis, an invisible swordsman, banditos, silent movie stars, a damsel in distress, a singing bush: it’s well-made, funny, and entertaining, and there’s not much more you could ask for.

this sure did fall flat. Pure crap.

Also, I could swear I noticed John Candy as one of the guards at the studio in the beginning, but I can’t find him in the cast list either through Amazon or at IMDB. Can anyone confirm for me?