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Absolutely Fantastic

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

If you grew up in Germany during the 70s and 80s, there was no way around Bud Spencer and Terence Hill. Whole scenes were "re-enacted" in the schoolyards (needless to say, often with painful results), most kids knew the one-liners by heart and most people were a bit vary about a Bud Spencer / Terence Hill comedy without Terence Hill. However, director Clucher being a master of his trade – always over the top yet never crossing the line from physical slapstick into cheap gags or infantile grimacing, that ailed many of contemporary Italian comedies – managed win the hearts of his fans over, even though Hill is nowhere in sight.Stepping away from the Western setting of former films and transferring the story to an Al Capone-time Chicago, Bud plays an out of his luck wrestler, who gets on the wrong side with the mafia after having refused to have a fight rigged. He teams up with the fast-talking crook with a golden heart Giuliano Gemma. Both being out of work and on an empty stomach, the unlikely duo hires themselves out as muscle for the local Mafiosi, the ever-smiling Don Angelo (legend has it, he was once shot in the knee and wears an perpetual grin ever since). Their job is to shake down the Italian-immigrant tenants on Angelos territory, a place of squalor where most people consider suicide a happy alternative and where the only thing there is to feed the babies are apricot seeds (which can hence be recycled). It goes without saying that, despite trying to act the tough guys, neither Bud nor Giuliano have it in them to rob from those who have nothing and rather opt to deliver food and medicine to the needy. Unwilling to return to their boss empty handed, they decide to rob the rival Mafiosi from across the street, thus unwittingly starting a turf war.Like said, there's everything you would expect from a Bud Spencer / Terence Hill comedy (except Hill of course): Fast talking gags and one-liners en masse, fight-scenes that seem to come straight out of a Asterix-comic and of course – at the end of the day – no participants in the movie were hurt or killed during the making. Spencer is his usual Bud-Spencer-persona; rough on the outside, soft like overcooked spaghetti on the inside and Gemma doesn't commit the cardinal sin of trying to imitate Hill (too much). Rather, he relies on his own natural charm, playing a looser that essentially prevails through his charm and big mouth. Almost sad that Spencer and Gemma never again paired up after this movie (and that many of Spencers future sidekicks would be nothing short of obnoxious).Sad also that Spencers career, like Hills, would a few years ahead take a rather steep decline downhill, but this kind of comedy was rather repetitive and did come with an expiration-date (something Spencer didn't seem to have understood). It's probably a case of nostalgia, mixed with a hint of "you had to have been there to understand", but "Even Angels Eat Beans" remains one of the best Spencer-solo-effort, deserving within this range a 8/10.

Enzo Barboni (AKA E.B.Clucher) Comedy about the confusion of two gents & the mob. Bud Spencer who usually paires up with Terence Hill in this sort of thing is paired up with Giuliano Gemma, who did a really great job. A fun movie with some really funny parts. If you are a usual Hill/Spencer fan, give this a shot. Giuliano Gemma might suprise you a bit, although I am a huge Terence Hill fan, I thought Gemma did very well. The humor is classic & maybe a bit uneasy (The bomber baby poop scene was a bit much) if you watch it while eating. Some great familiar faces from other Hill/Spencer films are in this. Including the late great Steffen Zacharias, who played Johnathan in They Call Me Trinity, as well as a ton of other roles. Great soundtrack in the tradition of Oliver Onions. If you can find a copy it is worth a watch.

Enzo Barboni, who had previously done Lo chiamavano Trinità and...continuavano a chiamarlo Trinità with Bud Spencer and Terence Hill stray's from the Western genre with this film and attempts a Mob-comedy with this film. Now I've only seen the dubbed German version of this film, but I must say it works pretty well. In the beginning I wasn't too sure though, as the beginning was quite stupid (the ninja-stuff). But the film grew better as it went on and once it had gained some momentum, it was able to keep it until the ending, despite the fact that the fighting scenes were not too original and had been already seen in a similar way in films like Più forte, ragazzi! And the Trinity/Bambino films. Having said that, I'd like to conclude with saying that although this film is neither as great as the previosly mentioned Western-comedies with Terence Hill and Bud Spencer nor as good as Più forte, ragazzi! or Lo chiamavano Bulldozer, it still is pretty enjoyable and it sure as hell beats E poi lo chiamarono il magnifico which Barboni made in 1972 with Terence Hill. 7 out of 10

This is essentially a Trinity-style comedy, except that this time Giuliano Gemma is paired with Bud Spencer and the place is the Italian gangland, not the Western. Our heroes are trying to become good gangsters, but they just cannot be as ruthless as the job requires. The move to gangland territory works extremely well, especially as some of the Trinity-style humour appears much more natural here, closer to home, in the setting it originated from. Gemma is also a more than adequate substitute for Terence Hill.Don't miss the martial arts sequence!