Three Amigos!

What’s the Story?

THREE AMIGOS features the talents of Chevy Chase, Steve Martin, and Martin Short. Set in the 1920s, the Three Amigos – Dusty (Chase), Lucky (Martin), and Ned (Short) – are silent film stars who have been successful in a series of films casting them as crusaders for justice in the Wild West of the U.S. and Mexico. When a villager of Santa Poco, Mexico, desperate to find protection for her village stumbles into a movie showing in a small town, she confuses the men on the screen with the characters that they are playing. After summoning them to Santa Poco, the boys are met by El Guapo and his gang of bandits. The Amigos quickly become aware that the violent display the bandits put on is the real thing.

Is It Any Good?

Three Amigos is a truly inspired, and still somewhat light, comedy. It's chock full of laughs at every turn, with the Hollywood-raised Amigos constantly proving how much difference there is between film stars playing roles and men playing out those roles in real life. Although they are stars in the silent era of film, there are a few memorable musical sequences, including the opening theme song, a precious rendition of "My Little Buttercup" in front of an angry barroom crowd, and a campfire sing-a-long where the horses and other desert animals join in as the chorus.

In keeping with Westerns, men are shot and killed, but these deaths are quick and cartoonish with none of the major characters being affected. For those families with some interest in action films, particularly older Westerns, this film will be pure pleasure as it makes light of the tricks always employed by those movies.