Il mio West

Aging gunfighter Harvey Kietel returns to his family after twenty years, to find his wife dead and his only son a pacifist doctor. He's soon followed by degenerate hick David Bowie, who wants his chance to best Kietel and won't take "No" for an answer.

The first half of this tender-hearted, politically correct Italian western (the first in awhile) is pretty syrupy, but alright as long as you're not expecting a rip-roaring spaghetti western. Harvey Kietel is as excellent as always and the location photography pretty good.

Things get weird in the second half, when a scenery-chewing Bowie and his motley crew arrive to begin a vigil outside Kietel's house. Here he's quite amusing, talking with the same fake southern accent he used for his cameo appearance in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me and even getting a chance to strum his guitar and sing, that is until he bashes it over the head of another character.

I couldn't help but like it.

Shot in the Apennines mountains in central Italy, by Italian Box Office breaker Piraccioni and his friend Veronesi, this 'comedy'- of- sorts makes us crave for the days of REAL spaghetti-westerns... Apparently Bowie wanted to 'have fun' and "work with Harvey Keitel, an actor I very much admire...". Unfortunately he/they chose a bummer. This is no "Once upon a time in the West" by 'maestro' Sergio Leone. Egos clashed a few times, and , worst of all, the outcome of this Eurotrash venture is soggy stuff. Such good taste as a musician (Bowie) doesn't guarantee the same when it comes to choosing a script. I hope he enjoyed the Italian cuisine, at least! p.s. Mr Keitel, on the other hand, has a shoddy 'track record' too, with the exception of a handful of 'stand out' films and roles... thank God he hasn't learned to sing!

This spaghetti-western is worth watching only because of one thing. O.K., maybe two: the stars of the project are Harvey Keitel and David Bowie. During the first half of the movie we're dealing with some strange combination of a cowboy story, comedy (not very bright, I must say) and... family movie. Well, it's boring and it reminded me of TV series called, yes, yes , "Dr, Quinn". Something interesting starts to happen when Bowie gets on the stage, but for his appearance we have to wait for a fifty minutes (fifty three, to be more specific). If you're a fan of the "rock'n'roll chameleon", you'll see this one anyway. In case you don't admire the gentleman, you should forget about "Il mio west" - it's the kind of a flick that makes you think: why the hell someone decided to film this?

If you would enjoy seeing some of the formula characters and scenes in a western presented in new ways, you might like this. Some of these formulas are treated with quietly humorous disrespect, be warned, if you take westerns seriously. Think of a good "Gunsmoke" episode made as a movie for the level of plot depth. People were real, involved, and creatively presented. The dialog limps at times, but Keitel's personal presence compensates for some of the limitations. Scenes weren't always smoothly connected, some had a "plot requirement" feel but I do wonder what ended up on the cutting room floor. People wore dirty clothes, gunshots produced blood, town citizens were parochial and short-sighted, the basics I need to stay involved. Bowie is appropriately evil, and does sensible evil things to achieve his goals!

Several of the comments here show negative response to what I feel is really a kind of tribute film to the great Sergio Leone. This film could easily have been Parmesan cheese atop the fabulous westerns Leone and Clint Eastwood created, but I think it keeps a good blend with the genre. Yes, the main character, Doc, is speaking in Italian and English is dubbed in. But that's a big part of the charm of all "foreign" films, especially the spaghetti westerns. And having spent my childhood in Oklahoma, I thought Bowie's psychotic bad man accent was surprisingly good (although I think Dwight Yoakam would have made a better casting choice). The soundtrack, likewise, could have come off as a pale substitute for Morricone's memorable scores. I thought the choice of the Marley's reggaeesque tune was more than suitable, especially since one of the "bad guy" characters was Rastafarian - one of many colorful additions that, in my view, bring nice flavors to the genre.

My only complaint after seeing the film once is that it's too short. If it were expanded to include more about Keitel's character and his earlier relationship with Bowie's, the climactic scene could have carried more punch - maybe not along the lines of the Bronson/Fonda gunfight in Once Upon a Time in the West, but richer character development would definitely have added more suspense and contributed to bringing a well-worn genre into the 21st century.

I don't think anyone who is a true fan of spaghetti westerns would be disappointed in spending 95 minutes with a tastefully created, colorful, quirky film like this.