Three Amigos (1986)

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!  Here's an unrelated movie!  This was a Movie Club pick.  I had seen this movie years ago and dismissed it as not funny, but I thought maybe if I revisit it as an adult...  It's still not funny.

In 1916, a small village in Mexico is being terrorized by a gangster named El Guapo (Alfonso Arau).  One of the villagers, Carmen (Patrice Martinez), sees a silent film starring the Three Amigos, Lucky Day (Steve Martin), Dusty Bottoms (Chevy Chase), and Ned Nederlander (Martin Short).  She writes to them, believing that they are actual heroes, and asks them to come to her village and stop El Guapo.  The three actors, having recently been fired by their studio, agree, believing it's a performance with a local star.  Hijinks Ensue.

This was desperate to be the Blazing Saddles of the 80s and reader, it is not.  It is a loosely connected series of half-baked SNL ideas that barely get off the ground.  There are elements of parody, sure, but they are so broad you'd be hard-pressed to name a single reference.  And because it's so generic, it just looks like its aping its betters.  

Steve Martin and Martin Short are game for anything but Chevy Chase looks bored as hell.  I don't think he had a single line worth mentioning, just a lot of smarmy smiles and wiggled eyebrows.  The 80s really tried to push Chase as some kind of sex symbol, and sure, if the symbol is a STOP sign.  I get how this could be a nostalgia pick for people but it was not for me.  The humor was too broad, the performances too manic, and the plot too basic for me to enjoy.  It's currently streaming on HBO Max if you want to give it try.