Banana Joe

Plot

Banana Joe (Bud Spencer) is a banana trader who makes a living carrying his merchandise with a small river boat.

He is something of a local hero, as he supplies local communities with bananas that they need to feed themselves with.

Everybody likes and admires him, and considers him a friend.

With his imposing figure, he is a larger-than-life character who is well-known for his generosity to people.

The trouble starts when a tycoon who seems to own everything enters Banana Joe’s territory and threatens to drive Banana Joe out of the business.

Will Banana Joe come triumphant out of this challenge or succumb to the pressure exerted by his mogul rival?

Another Bud Spencer comedy

This movie abounds with comic situations that are typical of films where Bud Spencer plays the lead character.

The missing link is Terence Hill who is the usual Bud Spencer’s partner in humor.

Even without Hill, Bud Spencer’s towering figure is enough to fill the screen.

With his unpretentiously relaxed attitude to life, he might be taken for a fool at times, but he is not.

Banana Joe is nobody’s fool, and in spite of his nonchalant moves, he is always ready to deliver a decisive blow and beat any opponent with his little finger.

A sensitive giant

Banana Joe’s massive body and incredible strength spread fear among his enemies and give courage and hope to his friends.

Come to think of it, deep inside him, he is nothing more than a big kid.

He would give his last penny (or, last banana, to be more precise) to help anyone in need.

Perhaps, that’s the reason why he lives a frugal life himself, and he is just happy sailing with his boat and carrying bananas to people up and down the river.

A gullible giant

Because he is straight and honest with others, he expects others to do the same with him.

Unfortunately, there are cunning people around waiting for the right opportunity to take advantage of him.

Aren’t they afraid of his huge size?

I guess not, as they count on his unsuspecting nature to deceive him.

But, what they seem to forget to take into account is that, sooner or later, he will realize that they have deceived him, and then, his wrath will fall upon them with unprecedented force.

It is only then that they will understand how dearly they will pay for their mistake to mess with him.

Beating the bureaucratic beast

Banana Joe is so strong that he can blow air through the mouth and move a small boat on the river, making kids laugh their hearts out, as a result.

However, he isn’t strong enough to beat the mighty and omnipresent bureaucratic beast.

When faced with red-tape, paperwork, and authorities demanding him to follow so-called official procedures, he is beaten hands down.

Torsillo (played by Gianfranco Barra), his big rival, always seems to be on the good books of the authorities, and makes sure Banana Joe has a hard time meeting legal requirements associated with continuing to carry out his small-time banana trade business.

And it’s not just bureaucracy.

Banana Joe also has to deal with bureaucratic insanity combined with his rival’s dubious ways of doing business and making money.

Will his physical strength and natural straightforwardness prove to be enough to defeat an opponent who is much richer than him, and a bureaucratic system that will jump at the chance to trap him and send him to jail for a trivial offense?

Rating: 71/100