It is said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Same can be said of parody – it might ridicule its object, but deep down its maker feel some sort of awe towards the original works. In certain cases this awe can blur the line between the parody and imitation, although not always with fatal consequences for the quality of films. One of such examples is For a Few Lousy Dollars, Canadian comedy directed by Michael Bafaro.
Evan Tylor's script for For a Few Lousy Dollars doesn't contain plot in the ordinary sense, so the best way to describe the content of this film would be "a compilation of all the best and most legendary moments in Quentin Tarantino's films given some humorous spin". Various stories and various characters – four amateur robbers in search of quick buck, four professional and one not so professional assassin, assassin's girlfriend, two mob bosses and murderous hillbilly couple - they are all connected through bizarre circumstances that would all lead to massive bloodletting.
Even those viewers who aren't dedicated cinephiles would probably experience "deja vu" effect while watching this films. Many characters and situations look like carbon copies of those seen in Tarantino's films (or films unjustly perceived as Tarantino's) - Reservoir Dogs, True Romance, Pulp Fiction and Natural Born Killers. Scriptwriter Tylor and director Bafaro somehow manage to connect all those elements into coherent whole, but the most important thing about this film is in the way authors mimic not only Tarantino's stories and character, but also his non-linear narrative style. Many viewers would have problems while they are connecting dots at first, but when they start to notice some familiarities, For a Few Lousy Dollars is going to be very entertaining experience. This film was relatively unknown, and that includes the cast (with exception of Judd Nelson and couple of faces seen in early seasons of The X-Files), but the obscurity of this Tarantinoesque "guilty pleasure" is undeserved.
RATING: 5/10 (++)
(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.films.reviews on November 7th 2003)
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