It Can Be Done Amigo (1972) User Reviews (23)

a decent spaghetti western

[spider89119 · 7/10 · 17 September 2005]

Hiram Coburn is not the typical spaghetti western protagonist. He doesn't use a gun, instead opting to pound his opponents silly with his fists, and although he is as powerful as an ox, he is mellow and laid back to an annoying degree. He takes some getting used to, but by the end of the film I found myself liking this character. Jack Palance plays Sonny, an eccentric gunslinger (what Palance does best). He is very entertaining, and I would have liked to have seen more of him in the film. The weirdest thing about him is that his accent keeps changing. Sometimes he sounds like he is from the southeastern US, other times he sounds Mexican, and other times he sounds like he's from Chicago or something. I don't know if this is intentional or not, but it sure is odd, and odd is a good thing in a spaghetti western.

The music score by Bacalov is excellent. It reminds me of some of Morricone's work, which is pretty much the best compliment one could give.

The story is great, and just about the most original one I've ever seen in a spaghetti western. The movie is a comedy, but not to the extent that it becomes completely unbelievable. I may have given this movie a higher rating if I saw it in a more complete, widescreen version. The version I saw, which I assume is the most commonly available, is approximately 98 minutes long if I remember correctly, and it feels like it's been edited somewhat to shorten its length.

All in all, this one's a must-have if you are a spaghetti western nut like me.

A DECENT BUD SPENCER FLICK!

[Mark-371 · 6/10 · 28 April 2000]

Ivan Coburn (Spencer) deflowered the sister of the fastest gun around, Sonny.(Jack Palance) Sonny wants Coburn to marry his sister so she wont live in shame, and then Sonny wants to kill Coburn. During all this Coburn has to take care of a small boy named Chip Anderson whos uncle died from a gun shot. I laughed alot during this movie....many fights and one liners....This movie was much better than I thought it would be. I think it's for Terence Hill and Bud Spencer fans only...or if you like the whole sphagetti western thing. There is something unusal in this film....there's a guy who pays 2 dollars for a bucket if dirt..and then he eats it!!??? (he's looking for soil with oil in it.) The start to this is also funny.....Coburn complains to his horse through the whole credits because it wont move, but when he sees a man with a gun the horse jumps to it's feet!

My vote is 6/10. A good movie for people who like "They call me Trinity" style movies!

It's A Lot Of Fun... Amigo

[FightingWesterner · 7/10 · 3 May 2010]

Bud Spencer wanders the west, finds time to help a young orphan/landowner targeted by greedy villains, and keeps having his bacon saved by Jack Palance. However, Jack's motives are anything but altruistic, as he blames poor Bud for allegedly deflowering his sister and plans on marrying her off to him before making her a respectable widow!

Lots of Rowdy fights and amusing gags, including the hilarious oil-soaked climax, keep this breezy, lightweight spaghetti western moving along quite nicely.

It Can Be Done... Amigo features what is probably Spencer's best solo performance, apart from his films with frequent on screen partner Terrance Hill, though A Reason To Live, A Reason To Die, which featured him as part of an ensemble cast, was a better film.

Meanwhile, Palance portrays the same black clad, chuckling, chain-smoking weirdo you've come to know and love from a lifetime of similar western roles. Needless to say, fans of these two won't be disappointed.

One thing that I found odd though, was Palance's changing accents. Sometimes he talked using his own voice, other times he spoke with a southern accent, and still others with a Spanish accent!

"Give me back my turkey!"

[Bezenby · 7/10 · 31 July 2012]

Bud Spencer teams up with a kid in this rather charming, but cheap, Italian comedy Western. Jack Palance provides back up as a cigar chomping, riled brother of a chick Spencer slept with, hoping to marry Spencer off and then kill him (to save face). They all end up in a town run by Sheriff/Judge/Reverend Francisco Rabal, who wants the property that the kid's inherited. But why? That's up to Spencer and the kid to find out, but needless to say the kid's sitting on a fortune.

This mostly harmless western has Spencer as the reluctant hero, protecting a kid he doesn't want to protect and getting into many punch ups. Palance turns up periodically to save Spencer (he wants to kill him himself) and for some reason he's got an accent that turns from Southern to Mexican for no reason whatsoever. Everything's played pretty light (no one gets killed, save for the kid's uncle who has a heart attack).

As with all Italian comedies, the laughs are played very broad (verging on slapstick), and there's unintentional and intentional laughs. There's also a touching moment when the kid starts showing Spencer a bit of affection and you can see Spencer's torn between his duties in looking after the kid and his own need to get out of town. The film also benefits from having one of the least annoying kids in Italian cinema (If you've seen House by the Cemetery or Sweet House of Horrors, you'll know that's no understatement).

The abrupt ending seems to endorse wife-beating, however, so I'm not sure what that was about! Did give me a laugh, though…The print I viewed was awful - drained of colour, pan and scanned, with a weird echo for the first 30 minutes.

Strangely entertaining

[TheLittleSongbird · 6/10 · 1 March 2015]

For a Spaghetti Western It Can Be Done...Amigo is neither among the best or worst. While less than perfect, it was entertaining if in a strange way.

While it does deserve a much better DVD with a more expansive widescreen and sharper picture quality, It Can Be Done...Amigo is not a bad-looking film at all. In fact, the scenery is very evocatively beautiful and the camera work is well-placed and doesn't try to be too ambitious or simplistic. The energetic, rousing, haunting, stylish and beautifully and cleverly orchestrated music score is the best thing about the film, plus it fits very well, while the songs are a good memorable fit. It Can Be Done...Amigo is well-directed and the acting is also not bad although the child actor is a little annoying and the dubbing is unnecessary and poorly utilised. Bud Spencer is a charismatic and imposing lead with a good flair for comic timing and Jack Palance is lots of sinister yet hammy fun despite his accent rarely staying the same. Dany Saval brings charm to her role as well.

Regarding the script and story, both are a mixed bag. A good deal of the humour is very entertaining, a couple of the running gags like with the cans and the reading glasses do really work and give off a fun vibe. but some of it does fall flat when it does get a bit too silly and bizarre. The dialogue has its moments and is appropriately good natured, but also gets too silly and awkward-sounding. The story is problematic, credit is due for it trying to do something different for a Spaghetti Western, the interaction between Spencer and the child mostly engages and the final fight is oddball but amusing and tense. Also despite how it sounds reading a synopsis it is thankfully easier to follow than you think. However the film does start very sluggishly and feels like you're riding on the shell of a snail for a lot of the first half of the film, and it ends on an abrupt note.

Overall, flawed but strangely entertaining. 6/10 Bethany Cox

CAN BE DONE AMIGO (Maurizio Lucidi, 1972) **1/2

[Bunuel1976 · 5/10 · 14 February 2008]

One of Bud Spencer's star vehicles without his partner Terence Hill takes him back to familiar Spaghetti Western territory. Despite a good cast (Jack Palance, Francisco Rabal, Luciano Pigozzi) and crew (screenwriters Rafael Azcona and Ernesto Gastaldi, cinematographer Aldo Tonti and composer Luis Enriquez Bacalov), the film rambles amiably along without ever becoming sufficiently memorable.

Spencer seduces Palance's virginal sister (having mistook her in the dark for another dance-hall girl) and flees from her pursuing pistolero/showman brother until he meets an abandoned child in the desert whom he takes under his wing (shades of two films Bud would later make with CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND [1977]'s Cary Guffey); as it turns out, the boy is the proprietor of a dilapidated wellspring which turns out to be rich in oil but they soon fall foul of outwardly harmless sheriff/judge/preacher Rabal. Spencer indulges himself in several of his typical fist-fights and even "Paco" Rabal gets to taste his trademark hammer-blow to the head; amusingly, he puts on his glasses before a fight so that he can think more clearly! Palance scores best as Spencer's laid-back, black-clad, pursuer-cum-partner and brother-in-law to-be. The title song is an agreeable one although it's only played during the opening and closing credits sequences.

I have missed out on this one several times on Italian TV over the years but I did catch the free-for-all finale once; since the quality of the DVD I watched was quite terrible – not just pan-and-scanned but extremely washed out as to lapse into practically black and white at various points!; although it was nice to hear Palance and Rabal's own voices in English, I'll make it a point to tape this one when it's shown again on one of the major Italian TV channels.

Slow, endless

[Wizard-8 · 25 September 2010]

I like spaghetti westerns, and I also like Bud Spencer movies. So I thought I would like this spaghetti western starring Bud Spencer (as well as Jack Palance.) Unfortunately, I have to report that even if you like spaghetti westerns and/or Bud Spencer, chances are you'll find this movie a bore like I did. The movie has very little story, and it moves at an unbelievably slow crawl. The comedy is mostly lame, though Bud's instant charisma lifts the humor from level zero, even though Bud seems to be doing this movie in his sleep. Jack Palance gnashes his teeth so much that he seems to be in pain doing this movie. And the director often shoots the actors so that the tops of their heads are cut off at the top of the screen! (The pan-and-scan presentation of the movie makes things even worse.) Not recommended.

a 1972 Spanish / Italian / French comedy

[Cristi_Ciopron · 7/10 · 10 May 2010]

IT CAN BE DONE, AMIGO, with the spaghetti western regulars Spencer, Palance and Rabal, has Roberto Camardiel in a supporting role and Serena Michelotti as the widow Warren.

Mrs. Dany Saval, wife of Michel Drucker, will be noticed as Mary Bronston.

Luciano Catenacci made himself known as the producer of OPERAZIONE PAURA; here he plays 'James'.

The script is plain--it pairs a fat drifter (womanizer tracked down by the vengeful brother of one of the women he fooled) with an annoying boy.

So This is a Bud Spencer Flick

[cdelacroix1 · 5/10 · 26 June 2007]

I got this movie in a DVD-pack of 24 (cheap) Westerns, mostly spaghetti westerns like this one. And although for the most part I thought this was poor even by spaghetti western standards, I was really delighted by the Hiram Coburn character as played by Bud Spencer.

Spencer is new to me, but after seeing this flick and reading the other comments I think I'll just have to go out and find Call Me Trinity or one of the Trinity flicks. My own take on Bud Spencer's character in this movie (Can Be Done Amigo) is pretty much a match for that outlined in the other comments. I just want to add that I was just delighted by this character.

Of course spaghetti westerns, and westerns indeed, are full of strange and oddly appealing characters. But this Coburn character is a knew one to me.

Laid back, cool, looking down at the ground and grunting softly whenever someone says something to which he takes exception ... then quietly putting on his wire-rimmed spectacles any time he is going to pound someone ... is really appealing to me for some reason. He's a big bear of a man. He wears no guns, but his fists pound all opposition into the ground - or through the nearest window or door or the like. I only would have liked Coburn to put on his glasses just before the final strangely funny and strangely appealing fight scene. I got a feeling of a cross between Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and Laurel & Hardy and The Three Stooges and even Batman ... the early series of Batman with loud reports every time a fist hit anyone. "Bam!" "Pow!" you remember. well, same here, except there's no visual aid, just the loud sound of "bam." All in all, I really liked this gem of a characterization in this movie. Guess I'll have to find Call me Trinity ... ! Charles Delacroix

A strong turn from Spencer in an otherwise average spagwest

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 21 December 2015]

This is one of the rare Spaghetti Westerns starring Bud Spencer without his usual sidekick, Terence Hill, although the comic offerings in store are very much like you'd expect from the actor. Given a chance to steal the limelight on his own for once, Spencer shines in the leading role in this film, playing a man-mountain (not exactly a stretch) with a good line in comedy. The opening scene, in which he tries to persuade his horse to get up, is a classic moment in its own right, and Spencer's presence throughout the movie makes it more than watchable. While there aren't really many laugh-out-loud moments, it's the little touches – the glasses, measuring the can – that make his character so amusing. I was also impressed with his dubbing in the US version; the groans and grunts his character makes really go with his personality, so much so that I felt like he wasn't being dubbed by somebody else at all.

The plot is typically convoluted, focusing on two different strands: the first is a young orphaned boy who's come into possession of a plot of oil-rich land, and the second is Spencer's character Coburn, who's slept with gunman Sonny's virgin sister. Now Sonny wants to marry the two off to make his sister respectable, and then kill Coburn for his crime. Of course, this wouldn't be a spaghetti western without all the familiar trappings of the genre, and these are present in spades: there are Can-Can dancers, jailbreaks, bank robberies, hookers, bar-room brawls and more. The action scenes are average at best, played for laughs rather than thrills, although I could have done without the interminable fist-fight that closes the movie: sure, the spectacle is unique – watching guys slug it out under a rain of oil – but it goes on too long and quickly descends into shambolic chaos.

Aside from Spencer, we have some interesting faces in the cast. Jack Palance hams it up as usual as a crazed sharpshooter, and here he decides to put on a different accent every scene he's in. It's not one of his better turns. The French Dany Saval is the romantic interest, and is pretty in a vacuous role. Child actor Renato Cestie gives one of the best performances for kids his age, and Francisco Rabal makes an impact as a sinister preacher. Lower down in the cast, we spot a couple of familiar faces from Italian cinema, including Sal Borgese and Luciano Pigozzi. Aside from playing spot-the-cast-member, IT CAN BE DONE, AMIGO is a pretty average movie, saved only by Spencer's genuinely funny leading man.

Parody Spaghetti Western co-produced by Italy/Spain with lots of brawls and shootings

[ma-cortes · 5/10 · 12 November 2010]

This is a funny spoof about several Spaghetti clichés with relentless comedy and parodying usual Western events that sometimes becomes stale . This is a good entertaining juvenile for Bud Spencer fans , as he's delightful in a fraternal story . It packs action, fist-play, sniping, slapdash , humor with tongue-and-cheek and is quite amusing . It deals with Coburn (Bud Spencer or Carlo Perdesoli) an insouciant , bumbling drifter who breaks out from prison and attempts to right wrongs . He embarks on his getaway and he gets stuck a ten years old little boy (Renato) . The boy's uncle dies, leaving a house , useless land to the child but is actually plenty of petroleum that is coveted by a priest-sheriff-judge (Francisco Rabal) and his hoodlums (Salvatore Borghese , Riccardo Pizzuti) . Hiram Coburn oblivious to risks and hopeless odds endure mishaps adventures and he join forces with the child to rout nasty gunmen . Meanwhile, the gunfighter Sonny Bronston (Jack Palance) going out the chase of Coburn to marry his sister (Dany Saval) and the baddies want to take the rich lands.

This release has some cool and several hilarious moments , though the Terence Hill-Bud Spencer duo films are much better , such as ¨They call me trinity¨, ¨Trinity is still my name¨ and ¨Truoblemakers¨ . Good for laughs as well as lots of shootouts and fist-play . The film isn't always good , sometimes is fresh and diverting and on a couple of memorable occasions , it's frankly delicious . The flick belong to the sub-genre that Bud Spencer played in which he has as partners some sympathetic children , as ¨Supersheriff¨, ¨Banana Joe¨, ¨Flatfoot¨ and ¨Aladdin¨. The film displays a wide plethora of secondary actors usually seen in Spaghetti genre as Sal Borghese , Luciano Pigozzi or Alan Collins , Robert Camardiel as an old drunk and Ricardo Pizzuti , the latter usual in Hill-Spencer flicks . The movie displays innumerable jokes , laughter , and slapstick , though relies heavily about the continuous relationship between the tired gunslinger and the orphaned boy . Enjoyable but silly screenplay Ernesto Gastaldi and Rafael Azcona . Catching musical score with noisy songs by Luis Enrique Bacalov who subsequently would win Oscar for ¨The postman¨ . This motion picture was professionally directed by Maurizio Luzidi . Although Maurizio couldn't be deemed an "A"-list director, his movies had a professionalism and a verve that many of those made by his fellow B directors lacked . He was a fine editor and also filmed detective thrillers , Giallo , comedy and even a horror film or two . He directed two Western more as ¨La grand Rapina del West¨ with George Hilton and Jack Betts and ¨Pecos¨ with Robert Woods , and even made films with international cast as ¨Sweet people¨ with Roger Moore and Stacy Keach and ¨The last chance¨ with Elli Wallach and Ursula Andress . His greatest conquest was the edition of ¨Don Quijote¨ by Orson Welles . Rating : 5,5 . Acceptable , passable but average . It is a middling Western story in which gibing the Spaghetti genre , plenty of fights and shoot'em up . As the director Mauricio Lucidi is uninspired and the ending is pretty predictable .

Infectuous, Life-Affirming Mini-Masterpiece

[Steve_Nyland · 9/10 · 11 June 2005]

I must admit to being relatively new to the whole Bud Spencer/Terence Fisher thing, but I've already found myself a personal favorite movie in the stack. This infectious, dopey, quasi-surreal Spaghetti Western/comedy, tailor-written for Bud Spencer, then at the height of his post TRINITY glory.

Like a good Simpson's episode, IT CAN BE DONE AMIGO's plot defies verbal description: A shambling, lummox like behemoth of a scoundrel (Spencer, standing about 6'4" and weighing 300lbs easy) finds himself going from two bit horse thief to community hero, in spite of his best efforts to avoid otherwise. He is also avoiding Jack Palance, comically over the top as a super-slick Pistolero who will see his "disgraced" sister married to the lummox, or else. Palance is traveling the west with his group of showgirls that he promotes in the most ridiculous looking coach I have ever seen in a Western, and at one point suffers a bout of whiplash that renders him bent over like a pretzel for about a quarter of the film. There are additional intrigues about a young boy traveling to his fostered parent's homestead with an uncle, who turns out to be dead but still entrusts the tyke to Spencer anyway. With much grumbling and gruff muttering, Spencer slowly becomes a father figure, the kid decides that Palance's sister would make a good mother figure, and even plots by local desperadoes won't stop this rolling boulder of humanity once it gets going.

And also like a good Simspon's episode, what the film does is to present us with a small community of memorable, likable, amusing cartoon characters who inhabit a very real world made up of what appear to be sets left over from ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST, but now somewhat run down and falling apart. The whole film has a sort of ramshackle, on-the-fly look to it that is very endearing, having the appearance of a typical Western, but being a whole heck of a lot more. Even the meanies in the movie have very human qualities, like the identical twin mustachioed gunfighters (one is left handed, the other right), the weaselly Desperado that Spencer cons out of a turkey dinner in the film's beguiling opening section (the look on Spencer's face after having a bottle broken over his head is priceless: "Not again ..."), and especially Jack Palance, who has never been better as he chomps on a cigarillo and intones "You're gonna marry my seester".

Then there is the wandering geologist who pays people to eat some of their dirt (he's looking for oil), Spencer's highly intelligent and communicative horse (who is asked for and gives advice on a few occasions), the bumbling gang of Pistoleros who keep trying to do Spencer in and keep paying for it, and the pretty, busty, blond woman who only wants to marry Spencer, whom she has a love/hate relationship with that is especially amusing when they discuss his eating habits ("I eat like a hog 'cos that's the way I like it."). The effect that this otherwise dainty, attractive young woman has upon the huge, gentle Spencer is the film's best joke, because he only wants to eat, ride, talk with his horse, and not have any responsibilities.

Don't we all, though? The movie IS Spencer's, and was either written specifically for him OR was the role he was born to play, probably a bit of both. One of the alternate titles for the film is THE BULLDOZER RETURNS, AMIGO and is very telling of his Hiram Coburn. He doesn't wear a gun, and doesn't need to. He is big, strong, fast, and outsmarts people as much as pounding them into the ground like telephone poles. One of the interesting quirks given to his character is that Spencer puts on a pair of Ben Franklin wire rim glasses just before he starts swinging the beef, and my favorite moment from the film is when one of the bad guys tries three swift punches to his bread box that have the effect of punching the Hoover Dam. It's hilarious ...

But to use the analogy one more time because it's so fitting, just like a good Simpson's episode, you have to see it for yourself to understand the magic that this stupid, funny, quirky little movie has going on. And you can: Look for a DVD Box Set by the nefarious Treeline Films obnoxiously called FIFTY WESTERN CLASSICS with 50 fullframe PDM Westerns on twelve double sided DVDs, each enclosed it it's own cardboard drink coaster. The print used was a dingy, fullframe formatted TV print, but it's utterly hilarious, addictively watchable, somewhat thought provoking, and proves once again that the best movies are always the ones that tell stories about people. Perhaps Mr. Lucas should have given this a looksee while making up his last STAR WARS movie, which was about action figures and computer games and making money. And as a result, it sucked. IT CAN BE DONE AMIGO was shot on a budget of probably less than $100,000 in even today's money, and is a far superior entertainment that actually has a soul. Imagine that.

I give this one unusually high marks: Nine out of ten, and recommend it to anyone planning to put relics of humanity into a satellite to be launched in the direction of the galaxy Andromeda as an example of what we were capable of.

Worth seeing for Spencer fans, even if the quality declines a bit towards the end

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 20 January 2021]

"Si può fare... amigo" or "Der Dicke in Mexiko" or "It Can Be Done Amigo" is a co-production between Italy, France and Spain from 1972, so this film is really close to its 50th anniversary now and unless you show up in the coming weeks and months here, perhaps it happened already. Even if there are other production countries involved, the inclusion of lead actor Bud Spencer shows you here that this is a film in the Italian language in the original. The director is Maurizio Lucidi and he is not a name you usually associate with Bud Spencer, but then again Spencer is not really too known anymore today for his western movies, even if the comedic tough here is also undeniable. Lucidi was pretty prolific nonetheless, also in other areas than direction. Here and there, for example he also wrote screenplays, but not this time. Instead they gut Ernesto Gastaldi and Rafael Azcona. Gastaldi is still alive today apparently and getting closer to 90 and he wrote way over 100 screenplays in his career. Azcona also managed to get past this crucial mark. So I am sure that film buffs in Italy will still recognize the names of this trio maybe. As for the cast, I already mentioned Spencer. And you can see from the poster how popular he was back then already, even if it was before his breakthrough next to Terence Hill. Also you can see from the German title that they promoted the film heavily with Spencer. He's the man. Alwys has been, always will be. May he rest in peace.

Anyway, the Italian title also has these ... and this is something they did with several Spencer films in the original title, not sure if with many other Italian films as well. The English-language title sounds a bit clumsy though and the only thing really telling there is the Hispanic background from the word "Amigo". The film is set in Mexico of course, but you can see that America is not exactly what they were focusing on, even if there were so many other English titles for this one here and also the one I mentioned is not the only one for Germany. Another one would be "Halleluja... Amigo" and there's more in German. As for the cast, Jack Palance also deserves a mention here for sure. At that point, he was already an Oscar nominee, but not yet a winner. This happened twenty years later, roughly also the same time span as between 1972 and his first nominations. It's a bit difficult to put into perspective, but maybe knowing that this film happened less than three decades after the end of WWII is something that gives you an ounce of how old this film already is. The western genre was also slowly dying back then. Anyway, this film here is of course in color, which was not a given for 1972, but still very often the case. I cannot really elaborate a lot on the rest of the cast here. Maybe some Italians with a soft spot for old films can, but Sal Borgese is of course an actor who is always easy to identify because he has been in several Spencer films. And Pizzuti is also on board once again. May these two, both in their 80s now, still live on for a few years hopefully. I like them, no point in denying.

As for the film itself, I already stated that I felt it got worse in the second half. maybe without Spencer on board I would not have given it three stars out of five, so perhaps people who like the man less than I do, will have a more difficult time to appreciate this film. But for me he is always fun. Although, even if this is a western, they did all they could to keep it as family-friendly as possible. The scene in which we have one character die after he sends Spencer's character Coburn on a mission was maybe the funniest of the entire film with how the dying kept opening his eyes after Coburn closed them already. That was almost dark comedy and I loved it. So yeah, this was one of the most serious moments of the film, but they treated it really lightly. Same applies to all the gun action in here. Yes, bullets are fired, but nobody is really shot and killed. Most of the time they fire shots to open belts and have pants fall down or to strike other guns with the bullet and make dangerous situations go away. So it is a film that also younger audiences can check iut if they want, especially because one of the key characters is a little boy. Nothing new for Spencer. He was with little Asian and African boys as Rizzo and even with an alien kid on two other occasions, but the one he has here is very human looks like a slightly rougher version of Little Lord Fauntleroy you could say. And with kids, Spencer's character always has a good conenction. Like here he even says on one occasion that he will not take it if somebody abuses children or so.

Jack Palance I also have to mention. I like Buddy, but Palance was almost a scene stealer in here. His performance here made me curious about other movies that has has appeared in. May he rest in peace too and it is a bit unusual that a character is at least slightly on par with Spencer's character in films like this. Hill did it and here Palance as well. he cannot just be a thug. Too big of an actor for that. He even saves Coburn's life on at least one occasion because he needs him alive to marry his sister that he assumes was romantic involved with Coburn. And the latter is also ready to get shot by Palance's character after the wedding. But then a smart move from the kids gets in the way and saves the man's life. Oh and one thing pretty unusual for this film here was also that Spencer was wearing glasses on several occasions. The explanation why he did was also interesting from a fight tactics perspective and something you do not really hear in his other movies. They are more about knocking out the bad guys, but here we get a little bit of insight in terms of why he does what he does. Interesting. One scene I also found funny here, or just a quick moment, was when we find out how the protagonist is struggling when it comes to dancing because of his big feet. Kinda cute. I feel you. The camera work I also liked with this film. It is not an all-time great western or anything, for that the overall plot was simply too weak, but I think they still did a lot right this time, such as the sceneries, the costumes, the sets, the make-up etc. Another reason why this movie deserves a thumbs-up, even if it is not an utterly enthusiastic one. Oh and horse lovers will also have a nice time here. Some really beautiful and stunning studs and mares to see here. I mean okay, this is a western, so you won't be surprised, but still it can be said and should not be taken as a given.

At 85 minutes, this is definitely among the shortest Bud Spencer films out there and still he has a bit of a romance story here, okay he keeps running from it, but still. Otherwise, these stories usually belong to Terence Hill's characters, but, as I stated earlier, that one is not yet here, so Spencer's character has to deal with these unwanted affections this time and he sure does not seem to be in the mood, completely aside from the fact that they could cost him his life. But of course he is not killed here. I mean it's a Bud Spencer film. Of course he survives in the end and I am not even surprised when he and Palance are in the end almost buddies with some hate-love relationship. Okay, "love" is too much, but still, they respect each other at least and know what they are capable of. I mean look at the scene when Palance's character ends up in the dirt and seeing his injury there and how it gets treated may be a bit on the harsh side for sure. Some nice and interesting characters in here for sure and the only one with more than one scene of screen time that did not really do anything for me was the old fella with the wild hair and beard. He caould have been omitted for all I care, but it's okay. No need to stay beyond 80 minutes as well, even if I would not have minded. This is enough now I think. I give "Si può fare... amigo" a positive recommendation, although it is certainly not the best choice if you haven't seen any other Spencer films yet. It's not one of his trademark films, so go for the others first unless western is your favorte genre and/or you really like Jack Palance. I wouldn't blame you. I am still surprised how many reviews we have for this one compared to the number of ratings. It must be because of Palance or because it is a western movie.

For A Few Laughs More . . .

[zardoz-13 · 5/10 · 29 December 2007]

This fitfully amusing Spaghetti western comedy embraces the time-honored concept of incongruity as the source of its laughs and shuns overt shoot'em up violence where the corpses outnumber the horses.

"It Can Be Done, Amigo" opens with our barrel-chested protagonist Hiram Coburn (Bud Spencer of "They Call Me Trinity") sitting atop his horse sprawled out on the ground and trying to convince the steed that it must eventually rise. "How the hell did I ever get stuck with a loser like you?" Hiram complains, "Hell, you feel tired and you drop to the ground like you was dead. It ain't natural in a horse. What do you take me for? You got the idea I'm going to carry you? There's no more water, the sun's hot, and this ain't no place for lunch." Traditionally, horses in westerns dating back to the 1930s and the popular B-westerns of the day depicted the horse as a better friend to the hero than a dog. The horse was always dependable and usually got the hero out of trouble. On the other hand, Coburn's horse—Rufus—is anything but helpful. This reversal of the convention of the intelligent horse is the first example of humor in this western.

The second example of humor is Hiram himself. As played by the big, lovable lug Bud Spencer, Hiram is an off-beat western hero. First, he wears no gun. Instead, he relies on his 'Hulk-like' fists to decimate the opposition. Second, the running gag throughout "It Can Be Done, Amigo" is that Hiram carefully puts on his spectacles before he slam bangs his way through opponents in fistfights. Normally, combatants remove their eyewear before they wade into each other with fists galore. Hiram is virtually indestructible.

Once Hiram convinces Rufus to arise, they run across several wild mustangs and the horses follow our hero until he runs into a group of hardcases that decide that Hiram has stolen the horses. They are about to hang him for horse theft when young Chip Anderson (Renato Cestiè) and his uncle—an attorney—appear on the scene in a wagon, and the uncle demands that Hiram deserves a trial. The vigilantes still plan to hang Hiram. Little do they know that Hiram has a guardian angel in the person of Sonny Bronston (Jack Palance of "Shane") who intends to see that Hiram marries his sister Mary (Dany Saval) to clear her good name before he shoots him. Consequently, anybody that tries to do evil to Hiram incurs Sonny's wrath. Again, incongruity lends itself to the humor of this lightweight western. The first time that Hiram sees Sonny, our hero describes Sonny to his horse Rufus as "a man with bullets where his brains out to be." Hiram escapes from the calaboose when some outlaws blow it up to rescue one of their own. A vigilante tries to shoot Hiram, but Sonny shoots the rifle out of the guy's hands.

All of this serves as a set-up to Hiram as he rides off into the desert on Rufus and stumbles across the lawyer strewn on his back in the desert and left for dead. The dying attorney plays on Hiram's sentimentality to take care of young Chip and take him to a town called Westland where he owns a broken down ranch. Reluctantly, Hiram accepts this mission. During the scene with the dying lawyer, Hiram repeatedly closes the man's eyes so he can die, but the attorney keeps opening them and issuing Hiram more instructions.

Once they reach Westland, Hiram and Chip meet a man who acts as the preacher and the town lawman and this character tries to buy Chip's land for a $1000 dollars, but the boy refuses to sell. In town, Hiram is mystified by a man who buys up buckets of dirt and eats them. Initially, Hiram believes that the guy must be searching for gold. However, it isn't gold, but oil. Eventually, Hiram is forced to marry Bronston's sister Mary. During a big celebration at their house, a fistfight erupts and during the brawl, oil spouts from the ground. As everybody but Chip and Hiram ride off, Hiram decides to become the man of the house, puts on his spectacles, and enters the house to make a baby with Mary.

No, "It Can Be Done, Amigo" is only about a third as funny as the "Trinity" movies, but it provides an interesting change-of-pace for blood splattered Spaghetti westerns and the production values are solid. Bud Spencer gives his usual, disgusted with everybody performance and he has a running gag where he challenges all comers to wager a bet that the bottom of a can is longer compared with the length of the can.

One thing that does stand out magnificently about this Italian western is the spectacular orchestral score by Luis Enríquez Bacalov who later won an Oscar in for the 1996 movie "Ii Postino." Bacalov also wrote another beautiful score for the Lee Van Cleef Italian western "The Grand Duel." Maurizio Lucidi began his career as an editor on the muscleman epic "Goliath and the Dragon" with Mark Forest and went on to cut the Tony Anthony shoot'em up "A Stranger In Town" as well as the Gordon Scott western "The Tramplers." "It Can Be Done, Amigo" isn't the best Bud Spencer movie, but neither is it the worse, settling somewhere in between.

Odd, quirky Spag Western/Comedy lost in translation

[Wuchakk · 4/10 · 9 September 2016]

Released in 1972 (but not in the USA until 1974), "It Can be Done… Amigo" is an Italian oater starring Ben Spencer as a gentle giant, Coburn, saved from unjust hanging. He becomes the caretaker of a little boy who's the heir of a remote ranch that many people are interested in obtaining for some reason. Jack Palance plays a comical gunfighter/pimp who insists that Coburn marries his nagging sister (Dany Saval) because he was previously intimate with her.

In spirit, but not plot, this is basically an early 70's Euro version of 1963's "McLintock!" Unfortunately it was lost in translation for me. Obviously a lot of effort was put into it, but it failed to engage. It's also marred by the limitations of most Spaghetti Westerns, like dubious dubbing. Plus there should've been more prominent women (Saval is likable, but she just grates on the nerves after a while). Still, the movie's likable; it's just very eccentric, which limits its appeal, but I'll give it another try in a few years.

The film runs 109 minutes and was shot in Almería, Andalucía, Spain.

GRADE: C- (4.5/10 Stars)

A True Grit style western with a little comedy

[cwhaskell · 4/10 · 11 January 2012]

While not exactly the same plot as True Grit, it is definitely in the same vein, but this time with slapstick humor interjected throughout. Bud Spencer chops his opponents into submission and Jack Palance goes from goon to goof as the story unfolds.

This has all the parts of a Spaghetti Western: Decent theme song, genre character actors, settings, etc. but winds up a few feet wide of the mark. The humor is decent, especially some of the interactions with Coburn and the boy, and it is an entertaining movie, but I never really warmed up to the gentle giant Coburn (Bud Spencer) and believed his connection with the kid. And I feel like I just have to at least mention the awkward spousal abuse ending ... I guess it was just being historically accurate? Anyways, there are better Western All'Italiana.

Rating: 18/40

What a bizarre plot!

[bensonmum2 · 5/10 · 27 February 2006]

I would love to briefly explain the plot of It Can Be Done, Amigo, but I don't think I'm capable. It almost defies words with its bizarreness. I'll give it a stab though. Bud Spencer is Coburn, the opposite of what I normally associate with the hero of a Spaghetti Western (SW). He's miles away from the image of the svelte Man with No Name. Coburn is a big man who looks like he may crush the horse he rides. He doesn't carry a gun, but relies on his powerful fists to defend himself. He is entrusted with safely delivering a young boy to his home after the boy's uncle dies. The trip won't be easy as hot on Coburn's heels is a wagon carrying the woman (Dany Saval) who insists on marrying Coburn, her brother (Jack Palance) who wants to kill Coburn, and the brother's traveling brothel. Once Coburn and the boy reach the boy's home, it seems that everyone in town, including the town's Mayor/Sheriff/Minister, is anxious to get it away from him, whether by buying it or killing to get it. Coburn's got to figure out a way to help the boy keep his land all the while staying one move ahead of his betrothed, her brother, and the Mayor/Sheriff/Minister who will stop at nothing to get the homestead.

Whew! That was difficult. But as confusing and crazy as the plot may sound, in the end, it all makes sense. Bud Spencer, as he proved in his many films with Terence Hill, has a flair for comedy and most of it works. Sure, there are a few misfires along the way, but you can generally count on Spencer to deliver. I cannot say the same for Jack Palance. Unlike almost every other review I've read on It Can Be Done, Amigo, I don't care for Palance in this film. His constant grimaces and sneering really didn't work for me. The rest of the cast is okay with Dany Saval giving a standout supporting performance.

As much fun as I had with parts of this film, I can't rate it any higher because of the sluggish first act. The movie starts off at a snails pace and I was really worried I might fall asleep if something didn't happen soon. A little better pacing throughout It Can Be Done, Amigo might have gone a long way to making this a truly memorable SW.

Unhappy Gunslinger

[StrictlyConfidential · 4/10 · 18 November 2021]

"It Can Be Done... Amigo" was originally released back in 1972.

Anyway - As the story goes - Sonny is one very unhappy gunslinger. Coburn has seduced the gunman's sister, and now Sonny is insistent that the young punk marry her to escape the shame and stigma of their behavior. Once the shotgun wedding occurs Sonny plans to kill the kid. In the meantime, Coburn has taken a little boy (whose uncle was gunned down) under his wing.

It can be done amigo

[BandSAboutMovies · 4/10 · 16 June 2022]

A Spanish, French and Italian co-production, It Can Be Done Amigo was also called Saddle Tramps, which is a wonderful nom de plume for a movie. It also was called Bulldozer is Back Amigo, Hallelujah Amigo and The Big and the Bad.

Bud Spencer is Hiram Coburn and he's very similar to the Bambino character that he became known for in the Trinity series. He's being pursued by Sonny (Jack Palance), a gunfighter and procurer of women of ill repute who is upset that Coburn took his sister Mary's (Davy Saval, Moon Pilot) virginity without marrying her. As part of their constant battles, the two meet an orphan named Chip who is soon fighting off the offers to buy the house he inherited from his uncle by a priest called Franciscus (Francisco Rabal), who soon brings in Sonny and Mary, then marries off Coburn to the pregnant young girl. Sonny tells Coburn that when his son becomes 21, he will finally shoot him. Hijinks, as they say, ensue.

How self-referential had Italian westerns become by 1972? This movie was shot on McBain ranch set from Sergio Leone's Once Upon A Time In The West. Bud Spencer's character says, "So this is the famous well" in reference to the well that caused the railroad to be built so close to that farm.

This is a movie that has a farm with mud people like to eat and where Bud Spencer puts on glasses every time he has to fight someone. If you haven't gotten into the silly side of Italian westerns, your enjoyment of this may or may not occur.

It Can Be Done, Amigo was directed by Maurizio Lucidi (The Designated Victim) and written by Rafael Azcona from a story by Ernesto Gastaldi.

Get the joke? He's gonna beat his wife to death!

[CubsandCulture · 1/10 · 1 August 2022]

This otherwise diverting spaghetti Western/comedy is utterly ruined by the gross, final story beat. The film ends on a "joke" about domestic violence in which a shrew gets her comeuppance by her husband beating her, presumably to death. The story beat is treated as a lark and the film lacks the gritty tone of other spaghetti westerns. Instead it largely plays out as a family friendly comedy.

The film outside of this moment isn't all that great. It is pretty silly and it has the stilted acting/production values of the subgenre. This could have been a fun cult film if not for the rank misogyny.

Jack palance can't make up his mind on his accent

[Nate-48 · 3/10 · 18 December 2022]

Only watched this to see Jack Palance and he is great as always in his presence. The only problem is he cant make up his mind if he is going to be Jack Palance from Shane or southern Jack Palance or Mexican Jack Palance.

The dvd quality I had was horrible (20 great westerns heroes & bandits). Perhaps you will have better luck with this 70s Italian Spaghetti Western doing its best Good the bad the ugly impression. A lot of shooting and action often out of nowhere for almost no reason.

If you blink you might miss what just happened. A lot of slow parts though as well and very campy. Without Palance I would give it a 2.

"Oh that's lousy coffee, an' you're a lyin' skunk".

[classicsoncall · 5/10 · 12 August 2006]

Prior reviewers in this forum have been a bit more generous than I'm prepared to be. This was my first Bud Spencer film, and I found it to be adequate at best. If not for the sneering presence of Jack Palance there might not have been enough to hold my interest.

Spencer's character is Hiram Coburn, who's gimmick with the eyeglasses portends someone about to get hurt, though that convention falls away by the end of the story. He's a slow to get riled caretaker for a young Chip Anderson (Renato Cestie) who has to slug his way through a slew of bad hombres until the payoff. The orphan boy is the sole owner of 'Welldigger's Roost', a ramshackle cabin in the ramshackle town of Westland, but the object of much interest by the town's all around judge/preacher/sheriff Franciscus (Francisco Rabal), and a curious dirt eating prospector. The old coot has a taste for gold, but it's an oil gusher that eventually proves out on the 'Roost'.

Until that point, Coburn stays busy dodging Sonny Bronston (Palance) and his sister Mary (Dany Saval). Sonny wants to make an honest woman of his sister, apparently after a fling with Coburn, although if you follow the film closely, that's not really ever made clear. Mary pretends to be pregnant, which puts her brother's plans for killing Coburn on hold, but Coburn himself never really fesses up to the deed. The best line of the film is his during the wedding ceremony which he attends hogtied -

Mary - "But why have they got you tied up?" Coburn - "To restrain my enthusiasm."

Though filmed in color, there are a fair amount of drab sequences that look virtually black and white. The print I viewed also seemed to be badly edited, subject to jump cuts that change the direction of the story on a dime; it occurred enough times to be annoying.

I liked Palance in the flick, almost a two decade preview of his character(s) in the "City Slickers" franchise. Whether on purpose or not, he changes accents frequently in the picture, with his Mexican take the best. It's a hoot to see his 'girls' fawning all over him; one gets the impression they might have been part of a traveling whorehouse, but they never did more than kick up their heels at the Westland saloon. Except for Mary, they could have all gotten a bit more screen time, amigo.

Inept Euro Western as "family" entertainment

[lor_ · 28 June 2023]

Coming too late in the Italian Western cycle to get a significant American release, this tiresome Bud Spencer vehicle tries to be picaresque, as the big lug wanders around having borin on-adventures. A cute young boy is thrown in for sentimental value.

In a parallel world where Hollywood big-screen Westerns had not gone out of style, it could have been perhaps a homegrown vehicle for Dan Blocker to provide old-0fashioned family entertainment following his meteoric success starring on tv in "Bonanza". But as ersatz cornball entertainment it comes up as zero.

Despite having a great cameraman Aldo Tonti, who shot epics like "Barabbas" and classics like Fellini's "Nights of Cabiria", it's a mess, with annoying, inappropriate music and even some dubbed dialog that echoes.