5 out of 5

Director: Sergio Leone

Fine. You got me. Years beyond Eastwood and Leone, and I brushed off the films as being… not relics, but things that become more popular as a representation of something than for what they actually were. So I was wrong. For a Few Dollars More is stunning. The beginning is a bit heavy, and a couple of Morricone’s musical stings seem silly, but the last three quarters of the movie are unbelievable film-making, and carry a unique sense of import I wasn’t expecting. ‘Few Dollars More’ was the second of the Dollars Trilogy. ‘Fistful of Dollars,’ the first, was also surprisingly entertaining, but budget constraints made it a bit lighter fare. Here, apparently, Leone had the clout and money to stretch things out properly, and it very much shows. Two bounty hunters converge on a gang of thieves, playing it from the outside and in, in order to reap the big reward for the crazy head of the gang, played brilliantly by Volonte (also in Fistful). It’s a normal plot, sure enough, but the odd and subtle elements that are woven in give these characters heft, and reminds you of how obvious films have to be nowadays to let viewers know what’s going on and why. That heavy beginning I mention has some good aspects – a nice, strong buildup of our principles – but the film felt too sequelish when introducing Eastwood, and that was to its detriment. It’s now a trilogy, sure, but despite some reports that Leone intended the films as separate entities he treats Eastwood like a returning hero, and the steps to his and Cleef’s targeting of Volonte thus feels more forced than the remainder of the movie. But once it moves past that – whew. The shots are gorgeous, and Leone’s patience with some scenes just makes the film seem like an event and not just some cool Western for the kids to reference. So – as a doubting, non-Western fan, I was definitely blown away.