The point of departure is Sherman's Three Mesquiteers features ("The Night Riders", etc.), filtered through silent film. Martin wears Chaplin's derby and Chase wears Keaton's boater...otherwise, it contains every Western cliché, and everyone's acutely aware of it.
These guys really could've done something smart here. Look at what you have: an audience believing the movie icons are real heroes, and the actors believing the real world is a movie set.
The problem is that Martin and Michaels are unable to squeeze very much out of the skits. It's on fumes well before halfway through.
And Landis' poor editing just makes it worse. This stuff is paper thin, but he has to stretch every cut to make the end result feature length, thinking the comic presences will be enough. Compare this to the smart editing of "Blues Brothers" or "Spies Like Us" and it's painfully clear.
Martin and Chase are both comedians who have to be in the right environment: for Martin, movies about movies ("L.A. Story", "Bowfinger"). Chase can't play an outright imbecile, he has to do layered performances("Fletch") or play it not-as-smart-as-he-thinks-he-is ("Funny Farm").
These guys really could've done something smart here. Look at what you have: an audience believing the movie icons are real heroes, and the actors believing the real world is a movie set.
The problem is that Martin and Michaels are unable to squeeze very much out of the skits. It's on fumes well before halfway through.
And Landis' poor editing just makes it worse. This stuff is paper thin, but he has to stretch every cut to make the end result feature length, thinking the comic presences will be enough. Compare this to the smart editing of "Blues Brothers" or "Spies Like Us" and it's painfully clear.
Martin and Chase are both comedians who have to be in the right environment: for Martin, movies about movies ("L.A. Story", "Bowfinger"). Chase can't play an outright imbecile, he has to do layered performances("Fletch") or play it not-as-smart-as-he-thinks-he-is ("Funny Farm").