DOLLAR FOR THE DEAD (1999) *** This is a work of love. Gene Quintano is not only a great scholar of the glorious work of Sergio Leone, but a talented imitator with a good joke in his eye. This is not so much a latter-day spaghetti western as a spaghetti western with patches of cannoli and soy sauce mixed into the marinara. I will bravely predict that if you love spaghetti westerns, you'll like this, and that even if you don't like spaghetti westerns, you might like it anyway. If, however, you are an ultra-orthodox spaghetti western purist, you probably won't like it, but in such case you really shouldn't divert your attention from getting the Winchester out of your ass! There are beautiful Mexican horns, yes, you see, but those are not the only musical embellishments. Cartoon sensibilities pervade every aesthetic, something of a triumph in itself. Something of, I said. Emilio Estevez never looks like he needs Leslie Nielsen or Antonio Banderas to bail him out which is good, because they aren't in the film. Not yet, anyway, I mean not while it was on. Sadly or happily, Quintano's nods to existentialism and infinite possibility are little more than that (though even more clever), and the A-frame of a plot exposes its exposition in like manner. No worries, creativity is an event that need not be buried beyond the purview of the vulgar, especially if they're in your target group. And dammit, what's wrong with doing something for them once in awhile?EditRegion3
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