For a Few Dollars More (1965, R)

For a Few Dollars More is the second part in the Dollars trilogy that began with 1964’s a Fistful of Dollars.  In terms of narrative structure, for a Few Dollars More is an improvement over its predecessor, and just as hard and gritty, and slightly more original.

  Clint Eastwood reteams with famed Spaghetti western director Sergio Leone, and reprises his role as the iconic bounty hunter character, the Man with No Name.  This time, the Man with no Name is on the trail of Indio, the biggest bad guy in the Southwest.  Also on the trail is aging bounty hunter Colonel Mortimer (Lee Van Cleef).  The Man with No Name is out for the reward money. Mortimer is out for Indio for personal reasons (we later learn that Indio raped and killed his sister).  The two eventually team up in El Paso, and agree to work together to bring down the infamous Indio and his dreaded gang, even though they have differences in opinion about bounty hunting.

At approx 130 minutes, it’s still not slowly paced, and the overall characterization and structure of the movie is above standards and better then in a Fistful of Dollars.  Even so, it’s a Leone spaghetti western, and is therefore hard, gritty, tough and violent, with multiple quick draws, shootouts and gunfights, Eastwood blasting his way to Indio with van Cleef covering his way the entire time.  It leads to the unfortunate anti-climatic showdown that is not as well crafted as the rest of the film.

Like before, this is no classic nor a masterpiece.  It doesn’t move all too eloquently, but also like before, it’s a piece of western entertainment.

The scenery is better in for a Few Dollars more than a Fistful of Dollars, with Leone masterly filming vast panoramas of harsh, nearly uninhabited landscapes, set in the backdrop for his characters and actors set up front.   

Eastwood’s performance is as good as ever.  His role as this iconic western character is somewhat risky, but it’s what launched him to stardom.  As for Leone, he is continuing his trilogy, the first two of which (that includes this one) are not worth much as storytelling but hit it hard spot on in the action, the fighting and the elongated, long shots with the familiar and catchy musical score.  In addition, Leone has clarified his worth as a director of westerns with this piece.  He films movies with his own style and substance, and his films are distinctively different from other movies, and we can tell that it’s him.

The Man with No Name series formula has been used and parodied many times.  Clint Eastwood himself took roles similar to this one and applied it to High Plains Drifter and Pale Rider for a couple of examples.  In other words, this is Eastwood’s original character, and one that he acted well, and with style.

                    ****/5