I’ve never been a huge
gambler. It’s not that I hate it. Put me at a blackjack table, and I’ll have
some fun (until the jerk sitting next to me starts acting like I’m playing with
his money; more on this later). Same
with video poker machines. They’re
entertaining in small doses, and I’m not above buying a Powerball ticket or
playing an occasional scratch off game.
But I could never be the type who takes a bus trip to a casino every
weekend. I could never be the person who
stands in front of me at the convenience store with an envelope stuffed full of
cash looking to get their (clearly un) lucky numbers for some lottery drawing
(or worse, the guy who buys a scratch off, plays it right there at the counter
in front of me, and then cashes it in [and keeps this cycle going] rather than
doing the polite thing and moving off to the side so others can get their
business done). I think that’s what I
find so unattractive about degenerate gamblers; their personalities are so
self-involved, so Gollum-esque, they’re basically little more than raw nerve
endings that have to take piss breaks every now and then. This is why I visited Las Vegas exactly one
time (same with Atlantic City) even though I had family living there. I couldn’t shake the feeling that every
single person I came into proximity with was eyeballing me with either
suspicion or maleficence. It’s almost
like they share a perniciously hedonistic streak, and it frankly puts me
off. Still and all, I don’t mind
watching gambling series and films (Casino,
Luck, et cetera), and that certainly
puts Sergio Corbucci’s Odds and Evens (aka Pari e Dispari, aka Trinity:
Gambling for High Stakes) in my wheelhouse.
Johnny (Terence Hill) is an avid athlete as well as a lieutenant in the
Navy who gets assigned to locate the big Syndicate honcho, Mr. Parapolis (Luciano Catenacci), whose illegal
bookmaking and strongarm tactics are just ruining everything for the legit
Florida venues. Johnny is ordered to coerce
the assistance of Charlie Firpo (Bud
Spencer), a professional-gambler-turned-career-trucker who just so happens
to also be Johnny’s brother, in this matter.
Needless to say, Charlie is reluctant, but that’s okay, because Johnny
is devious.
When Corbucci’s name is mentioned, it is typically in the same breath
with either the original Django or
the superlative The Great Silence,
two Spaghetti Westerns that simultaneously set standards and broke molds. But a lot of people don’t realize that he
actually did quite a few comedies, like this, Super Fuzz (an early pay cable staple), Three Tigers Against Three Tigers, and so forth. What I find interesting is that, at the time Odds and Evens was made, this was the
brand of comedy that was fashionable in America (an international pop culture
equivocation that I’m of the opinion occurs far less than one might think). This is the kind of film that Hal Needham would be proud to have his
name attached to. Its characters and
situations are broad, it’s not above dressing up its stars in silly outfits for
a chuckle, its bad guys are bumbling and oafish, and there is plentiful
violence (primarily directed at the same bumbling, oafish bad guys). Said violence, however, is of the slapstick variety. The action is often undercranked for comedic
effect (something that never works, if you ask me), and even though characters
get bludgeoned and thrown around to the point where a normal human being would
be hospitalized or dead, they all appear in the very next scenes with nary a
bruise. They bounce back like Wile E.
Coyote, always ready to take another licking and never, ever learning a single
thing from their bad experiences.
It’s this cartoon nature that is
embraced equally in the relationship between Charlie and Johnny (and it should
be said that, while I have not seen tons of Hill/Spencer buddy pictures,
my understanding is that this is the relationship they typically
presented). One of the main things I got
from this film was the Bugs Bunny/Daffy Duck rapport of the leads. Nonetheless, neither Charlie nor Johnny is
wholly Bugs or Daffy. They commingle
traits of both. Charlie just wants to be
left the hell alone (which is normally a Bugs trait) to drive his truck and
help Sister Suzanne (Marisa Laurito)
and her orphanage. Johnny plays against
Charlie’s obvious weaknesses to get him to do what Johnny wants (also a Bugs
trait, especially in relation to Daffy), the results of which Johnny relishes
(more of a Daffy trait but arguable).
Charlie dislikes Johnny, but when the two find a reason to work
together, they handily take care of the Syndicate goons (a collective Elmer
Fudd). By keeping this in mind, I think
a viewer will get far more out of this film than would normally be anticipated.
Another of this film’s strengths
is in the way that it captures not only a time and place but the feel of that time
and place. The late Seventies were awash
in eye-searingly garish clothing alongside couture so shabbily unspectacular,
you could easily envision Archie Bunker wearing them to go out with Edith for
an evening. For as glamorous as people
liked to feel and behave, I’m still amazed at the color schemes used in some of
the popular hot spots (although cocaine may account for a lot). Earth tones were in in a big way, and it
would be rare to enter a building without some form of brown and/or orange
splashed around the joint, simultaneously assaulting your senses and covering
up various unsightly stains. Corbucci and cinematographer Luigi Kuveiller do a brilliant job of
showcasing Florida and a certain attractive lifestyle that this geographic area
was associated with in the public mind (in the same way that De Palma’s Scarface would be five years later and resonating for much, much
longer). It’s a freewheeling, high
energy glimpse into a culture many would love to dive into, and the fascination
is a large part of the reason why television shows like Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous were so well-received. Of course, it’s still manufactured like most,
if not all, glamor is. That the
filmmakers are able to get their audience to go with it, to float along with
it, to buy into the fantasy of it, is a massive credit to their efforts (and I
don’t think that the material alone is enough to do the same; presentation is a
large part of it). Your life will never
be enriched by Odds and Evens (unless
you’re the type whose life could be enriched by it), but you’ll finish watching
it with a big, dumb grin on your face, and that’s perfectly fine, too.
MVT: The easygoing ambience
and the quasi-antagonistic groove between Hill
and Spencer is the heart of how
this film succeeds.
Make or Break: The scene
where Charlie gets dressed up (one of a couple) and roughhouses with some thugs
was the clincher for me. Up until then,
the film was certainly fun, but at this point it becomes clear just how far Corbucci and company are willing to go
to make you smile.
Score: 7/10