FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE (1965) A Film Review by Ted Prigge Copyright 1997 Ted Prigge
Director: Sergio Leone Writers: Sergio Leone and Luciano Vincenzoni Starring: Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, Gian Maria Volonte
"Fistful of Dollars" consisted of one protagonist. "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" consisted of three. "For a Few Dollars More," the second film in the Man With No Name trilogy (featuring the other two mentioned), deals with two, and how it is plotted is done by characterization, and centers around a locale where "Manifest Destiny" has basically ruined some people, caused them to lose themselves in the vastness, and are confined to walking around, being paid to kill people who are only a knotch worse than them.
The Man With No Name (Eastwood) returns in this one, dressing the same, and looking like he may have lost the money he won in "Fistful of Dollars." There's also the Colonel (Lee Van Cleef), an old man who quit the army and went into the bounty hunting business. The first half hour or so shows them wandering around, collecting money for their killings, and almost crossing paths, as they, at one time, want to kill the same man.
The actual plot takes off when a big-time criminal (Gian Maria Volonte, who was the villain in "Fistful of Dollars") is broken out of a crap prison, launching a campaign to find him. Through posters, the two bounty hunters, who have never met eachother, discover him and decide to go out and search for him individually. Yes, they run into eachother in the same town (in a cool scene where they shoot off eachother's hats over and over again), and yes, they team up in a partnership.
The villain wants to rob a large bank with a bizarre idea for a safe (an armoir, but a heavily protected armoir) and then split the money up with his gang. They sucessfully do it halfway through the film, but when they go to open it, the Colonel steps in to help them do it without blowing up the bills. The plot, as in all of Leone's films, twists and turns over and over again, finally ending in a ghost town.
The ending is the usual cool-ass duel, but always done in the most original way. We find out more about our two protagonists, and even about the villain, who is given some depth this time. And the film is equipped with the bitching kind of style only Leone can peform. With Ennio Morricone's amazing score, he sets up beautifully choreographed scenes filled with shooting and some good old Italian carnage.
"For a Few Dollars More" is always seen as the black sheep of the bunch, but this film is rather underrated. It's plotting is ingenius, and the film is just one hell of a fun film to watch. It runs a tad over 2 hours, but it really doesn't seem that way since it's so fascinating to watch. "For a Few Dollars More" is just another reason why Sergio Leone kicks ass.
MY RATING (out of 4): ****
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