Three Amigos! (1999, DVD)

Although very disjointed, Three Amigos! is still an entertaining Comedy Western featuring three funny guys doing what they do best.

Stars of a silent Zorro-style Western serial on the Silver Screen, the Three Amigos are kicked out of Hollywood when their latest movie flops. They are subsequently hired by a pretty young Mexican girl (the gorgeous Patrice Martinez) to fend off a bunch of cutthroat bandits who are terrorizing her village.

The catch? She thinks the Three Amigos are for real, but they're not. They're wimpish Hollywood entertainers who crumble (embarrassingly yet magnificently) in the eventual face of adversity.
So having failed the trusting villagers, the Amigos must ultimately face their cowardice and face the Mexican bandits.

It's a simple conceit but one that works thanks to messrs Martin (who co-wrote), Chase and Short. They play off each other perfectly (witness the prancing dance routine in the tough tavern) and yet are also given the opportunity to shine individually (Martin held captive in a cell shackled to weighted chains, Chase playing badido guitar and Short's stand-off with a quick-drawing German).

There are some hilarious lines too: "You can kiss me on the Veranda" says a sweet Mexican girl...."the lips will be fine" opines Chase. "Someday I'll come back" smoulders Martin...."Why?" comes the baffled response from love interest Martinez, bruising Martin's ego somewhat.
On the downside, director John Landis doesn't seem to have a particularly firm grip on his material and the pacing is often episodic (the bit with the singing bush doesn't really work).

However, the leads are all strong (including Alfonso Arau, brilliant as the Bandit's leader) and it's worth catching as one of the last movies in which Steve Martin was allowed to revell his gleeful love of the absurd before his comedies became progressively more sentimental.