Despite the presence of Patrick McGoohan, and an interesting Ennio Morricone soundtrack, "A Genius, Two Partners, and a Dupe", comes across as more silly than entertaining. You get the usual Terence Hill antics, along with a story that is choppy and confusing. The film is presented as a series of incidents that do very little to advance the somewhat obscure tale they are trying to tell. The whole thing just meanders along for almost two hours, in other words going nowhere. This is not one of the better "spaghetti westerns" and except for the presence of the always fascinating McGoohan, and an all too brief appearance by Klaus Kinski, the movie would be completely forgettable. - MERK

Terence Hill has appeared as various characters in Spaghetti-Westerns, most of which are based on the "Trinity"-series, later fetched out into the "Nobody"- and "Lucky Luke"-characters. "Nobody" remains one of Hills most terrific (solo)-performances and it's no big surprise that this film was billed as a "Nobody"-sequel in many countries, despite Hill playing a completely different character, namely Joe Thanks, Trinity, not so much Nobody, in all but name.Let's talk about the acting first: Robert Charlebois as Joe Thanks semi-Indian sidekick seems an odd choice, yet, somehow the Canadian chansonaire somehow manage to pull the role off. Miou-Miou is cute like a button, Raimund Harmsdorff is a force of nature and Patrick McGoohans performance makes you feel like clapping. As in any movie he had starred in, Klaus Kinski steals the best part – albeit, his 'Doc Foster' disappears, virtually blue-balled, during the first ten minutes. This would remain one of the few Kinski appearances in a comedy and Werner Herzog didn't lie when he said, that Kinski had a very good sense of humour – just, many people don't know how to appreciate it.A word of warning here: many a great movie has been utterly destroyed by inept American dubbing: to mind come "Das Boot" or "Christiane F – Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo". "A Genius, Two Friends and an Idiot" fits into this mould, the (US)-English synchronization being completely unbearable. I personally recommend the German-dub version (I believe, Kinski speaks himself), which has the right balance between straight-faced and farce.For fans of the Bud Spencer/Terence Hill "Trinity"-Westerns and post-Bud Spencer Westerns, "A Genius, Two Friends and an Idiot" is a must-see.

Bit of a disappointment this one, although it was always bound to be too good to be true.Just think of it! A spaghetti western directed by the great Damiano Damini (A Bullet for the General) and the greater Sergio Leoni, starring legendary actors Patrick McGoohan and Klaus Kinski, with music by Ennio Morriconne. How could it go wrong?Well let's start...The opening sequence at least (directed by Leone) is brilliant and promises a terrific film. A promise that is not kept. The sequence has little or no bearing on the rest of the film, an action comedy about the conning of a racist cavalry Major (McGoohan) out of three hundred thousand dollars and the love triangle between the three con-artists, led by Terence Hill.There seems to be something about most Italian comedy that simply doesn't work when playing to a British or American audience and here it is the same. Most of the film is buffoonery that falls flat, made increasingly worse by the decision to give most of the co-stars silly voices in the dubbing room. Klaus Kinski comes off the worst in his tiny cameo, looking great, out-acting everyone on the screen, but sounding like an ancient hillbilly. Miou-Miou's squeaky toddler voice is unbearable.McGoohan too sounds bizarre, somewhere between an English toff and WC Fields (all the stranger still, because the voice is actually his).The music tends towards the comical of course, and as such is not in Morricone's best work.However, there are some diamonds among the rough. McGoohan's performance is great, in spite of the voice.Terence Hill makes a fairly engaging lead, whose description of a duel is a classic moment for spaghetti westerns. The climax too, an energetic chase, accompanied to Morriconne's reworking of Beethoven's Fur Elise, ending with a tremendous explosion that leaves McGoohan covered in white dust atop his horse like an imposing alabaster statue (worth the admission price alone) is evidence that there is some real talent at work here.In a perfect world, A Genius would be the very best of the spaghetti westerns. As it stands, it is a failure that I'm very pleased to have seen.

I purchased this PAL DVD (my Macintosh computer plays the format) and a region- free, NTSC/PAL DVD player (connected to a regular NTSC tv) so I, NOT THE STUDIOS, can choose what I want. The PAL disc was the only version I found available, and I will submit DVD info when I find time. Look for the widescreen/ letterboxed format (which "Genius" is), instead of the horrid pan and scan, because letterboxed (or matted) is what the director intended viewers to see! Please keep an open mind about spaghetti westerns. Sometimes viewers comment with such harsh criticism that it can turn someone away when they should be prompted to look for a title in the genre they are interested in. I've suddenly grown a fascination in macaroni that I'm finding movies that I've never been interested in before. I swore on Clint/Eli/Cleef/ Leone/Ennio flicks yet didn't notice people like Nero and Milian. And now I'm discovering not to be so hard on my boy Terence Hill. Okay, so he doesn't take it so seriously. At first, that's what turned me away from his flicks. It wasn't Eastwood enough. But geez, what a kick you can get from "Genious." Initially I didn't care for Ennio's music, but it seeps into you. And there's something about the camera placement and movements that draw me into the film, which was just the right length -- not too long or short. The funny moments and comments throughout, plus the explosion (a very real and powerful one) somewhere in the flick made me decide on 8 stars. I judge these the same way as kung fu action. It can be so easy to pick apart and be literal, but these generally are simply pasta and lo mein noodle- type movies. Just enjoy sucking it into your system. You'll love getting full, and soon you'll want another helping.