The greatest movie ever made..!

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

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

This should have been a great film, but after the superb intro (which I think is directed by Leone) the film pretty much falls out of your mind after seeing it.Whith Leone involved, I did expect a great film and the intro did meet my expectations but the rest of the film is quite poor. I am a big fan of spaghetti westerns but this film falls because it is so messy. It is a ripoff from "My Name is Nobody" and "Trinity", with some more serious elements (such as the intro), paired together with a scrappy plot.I am not a big fan of Terrence Hill and this movie did not make me change my mind about him. The character he plays in this movie is pretty much a copy of the one he played in "My Name is Nobody" except the fact that he did a good job in that movie. He is not bad, but his acting gets boring (maybe he was tired of playing the same role in every film?). Klaus Kinski is good as always. The film does look great though, and does not have that b-film feeling to it like so many other spaghetti westerns.I don't hate this movie, but it did not meet my high expectations. Watching it without expectations, I can imagine that this flick works as great entertainment for the spaghetti western fan. And remember, the score by Morricone, the intro and the performance of Kinski are reasons alone to watch this movie.

Not as obviously or patently a Sergio Leone movie as MY NAME IS NOBODY from a few years earlier but still as Leonesque as a movie can possibly be while still playing ball in Enzo Barboni's slapstick turf (quite possibly the worst spaghetti western niche), this RAFRAN produced movie is heavily flawed but eminently watchable even when it doesn't make a lick of sense. Leone being Leone, he had to stick in his hand, even in a movie in which he had no creative stakes (unlike My Name is Nobody). The opening scene is a masterclass in directing as one would expect from a master cinematician even if it amounts to little more than moody silence and gliding tracking shots. Those who appreciated the slow-burn dynamics of ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST, will be spellbound for the duration. It's a fantastic opening to a movie that never quite capitalizes on it. The script is mired in inconsequential distractions and tacky "end of the West" commentary delivered without an ounce of subtlety ("the old man will go away", says Hill about an old Indian chief in the end as the rest of his Indian band prepare to take off without him dressed in fancy clothes and hats, "he represents the old West" #%^!) and the goofy hijinks Terence Hill became known for do the movie little favour but every now and then director Damiano Damiani comes up with a scene or a setup that impresses with its visual splendor. The Carlo Simi-designed sets, the beautiful locations in John Ford's turf in Monument Valley, and the technical skill involved in front and behind the camera (not Ennio Morricone's score though, which is far from his best work), are all far better than 95% of spaghetti westerns could ever afford, then or a decade before, so this should still be of some interest to the hardened spaghetti aficionado. Traditional Ford/Hawks loyalists should keep their distance though.

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.