The Funniest Western Of The Eighties Is Destroying The Streaming Competition
A Hilarious classic.
This article is more than 2 years old
By the time the eighties came around, the western film genre wasn’t what it used to be. Still, the decade brought us some great entries. In 1985 Clint Eastwood riffed off the classic Shane with Pale Rider. That same year brought together stars Brian Denehy, Jeff Goldblum, Kevin Costner, Danny Glover, and Kevin Cline for Silverado. Three years later came the ensemble gathering for Young Guns. But along with great westerns, the eighties also brought us one of the greatest comedy westerns in cinematic history. No, Blazing Saddles was in the seventies; not City Slickers or Maverick either, those were both from the nineties. The only movie we could possibly be talking about–and if you’re both an Only Murders in the Building fan and haven’t guessed yet, shame on you–is 1986’s ¡Three Amigos! Starring the irresistible comedy trio of Chevy Chase, Steve Martin, and Martin Short, ¡Three Amigos! is currently proving it’s as ageless as it is hilarious by securing the #5 on Hulu’s Top 10 Streamed Movies.
The year is 1916 and the small Mexican village of Santo Poco has fallen under the thumb of the bandit El Guapo (Alfonoso Arau) and his loyal men. Having no one else to turn to, the young Carmen (Patrice Martinez) sends a telegram to California in hopes the Three Amigos will come to her rescue. Knowing the trio only from their silent films, Carmen doesn’t realize the three are only actors playing at being heroes.
As it happens, Carmen’s telegram arrives at what seems like an ideal time to Dusty Bottoms (Chevy Chase), Lucky Day (Steve Martin), and Ned Nederlander (Martin Short). The actors are fired and tossed off their studio’s lot after demanding a pay increase. When they receive the cry for help, they mistakenly believe it to be a job offer, and make their way across the border into Mexico.
In spite of being dressed head-to-toe in ridiculous glittery outfits that look like a gunslinger hired Liberace’s outfitter to design him a new look, the Three Amigos are more successful than you might think without realizing how real the stakes are. They diffuse a tense situation in a saloon with the song and dance number “My Little Buttercup.” In their first confrontation with El Guapo’s gang, they manage to force the bad guys into retreating by just confusing them. It isn’t until the bandits return and one of them shoots Lucky that the trio realizes the whole thing is real.
Along with being the funniest western film of the eighties, ¡Three Amigos! was one of the best movies of the decade to come from a Saturday Night Live-rich cast and crew. The film was directed by John Landis who had likewise directed movies full of SNL talent like The Blues Brothers, Trading Places, and Spies Like Us. The story was written by Steve Martin, SNL producer Lorne Michaels, and crooner Randy Newman. SNL cast members of the time–Phil Hartman and Jon Lovitz–made brief appearances as the assistants of the studio mogul who fire the Amigos.
¡Three Amigos! didn’t do well with the critics and it didn’t do well in the box office. We can only assume a temporary insanity gripped both the reviewers and the movie viewing public. The “My Little Buttercup” performance, watching the Amigos trying and failing to not burst into terrified tears as they realize their predicament is real, a classic disagreement over the word “plethora,” and just about every single time Martin Short breaks into dance are all worth the price of admission on their own. The flick’s current status on Hulu is proof of its worth, so you should check it out while you can.
It’s possible one day we could get a remake of ¡Three Amigos! though with a trio that isn’t quite as well knowN for comedy. As MovieWeb reported in 2019, that year Chris Hemsworth quipped that after Avengers: Endgame he, Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans should reunite for a ¡Three Amigos! remake. While the big guy was likely just joking around, that doesn’t mean we wouldn’t pay good money to see the Avengers’ Big Three forced into doing a rendition of “My Little Buttercup.”
