The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (July 3/04)

Sergio Leone's classic trilogy comes to a close with The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, and while the film is seriously overlong, there are enough elements here to hold the interest of even the most impatient viewer.

It's hard to tell whether or not Clint Eastwood is playing the same character in all three films, as he's got a different name in each of them. Here he's called Blondie, and his money-making racket this time around has him working with Tuco (Eli Wallach), a bandit who allows himself to be captured and almost executed (Blondie steps in at the last minute and saves him, while the two split the bounty). After learning of a buried $200,000 hidden by a civil war soldier, it becomes every man for himself - including the "bad" of a title, an unforgiving and brutal gunfighter nicknamed Angel Eyes (Lee Van Cleef).

Cinematically, there's no denying that The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is the most effective entry of the three movies. Leone imbues virtually every shot with an intriguing sense of style, ensuring that the movie is almost always interesting to look at. Structurally, though, the film isn't nearly as successful. At a running time of three hours, Leone simply isn't able to keep things going the entire time and begins introducing needless subplots. This is particularly true of a long sequence towards the end of the film that finds Blondie and Tuco wandering onto a civil war battlefield. This entire section could've easily been excised without any damage to the overall storyline, though there's no doubt rabid fans of the movie would disagree. But had Leone trimmed all the fat from the burgeoning screenplay, it's fairly clear that The Good, The Bad and The Ugly would've been a much better film.

Having said that, Leone's creative direction ensures that the movie is never boring. There are a number of incredibly entertaining sequences peppered throughout the story, with a stand-off between the three central characters an obvious highlight. Leone takes what was presumably a one-line description in the script and turns it into an epic moment of suspense. Accompanied by Ennio Morricone's justifiably famous score, it's certainly the most effective scene in the film.

Add to that a trio of fantastic performers - particularly Van Cleef, who deftly steps into the shoes of a truly despicable character - and you've got a Western that's always watchable, though it's clear some serious editing would've been beneficial.