6/10
Spencer and science fiction quite unusual, but not entirely bad
28 December 2020
Warning: Spoilers
"Chissà perché... capitano tutte a me" or "Everything Happens to Me" or "Buddy haut den Lukas" (and all three titles here are kinda weird) is an Italian movie from the 1980s and this means that this film that is also mostly in the Italian language (unless you are watching a dub) has its 40th anniversary this year. Good occasion to give it a watch! Or rewatch. This was not the first time I saw this, but it's been a long time since last time I did. This is not among the most known Bud Spencer movies, not about the least known either, but you can see from the rather low amount of ratings and reviews here on imdb that it's nobody's first choice really when it comes to Spencer. There are obvious differences compared to most of his other films and I will get to those later. Let's stay with the basics for now. This film runs for almost 100 minutes and is a sequel to the movie from one year earlier that stars the same two protagonists, the man and the boy you see on the picture here on imdb. No need to say who the bearded fella is, but the kid is Cary Guffey. He had his breakthrough with "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and a little later played in those two films we have here. Or the second it is that we have here. He did not stay an actor when he got older as his last projects (according to imdb) are from 1985, so I was barely born when he quit acting. By the way, this film premiered here in Germany and December 1980 even, so the 40th anniversary in my country really only happened a few days ago. Also this won the Goldene Leinwand or Golden Screen as it would be translated. This is an award for films here in my country (not sure if it still exists, but it did back then) that managed to reach really high audience numbers in theaters. The first film did and this sequel managed the same. Spencer may have been a bigger crowd magnet than anybody in the 1970s and 1980s, which is even more spectacular because he is not even German. And his films are all dubbed. But it's so easy to get used to them and this also has to do with Bud Spencer's German voice provided by Wolfgang Hess. High time I mention him as well with all the Spencer films I watched lately. May he rest in peace. And may Bud/Carlo rest in peace as well. As for the director here, Michele Lupo did not grow particularly old sadly, died at a much younger age than the two I just mentioned, but he worked with Spencer on many occasions and was pretty prolific back in the day too. The two writers (Fondato and Scardamaglia) I cannot really say too much about those. Simply because I don't know them. At least one of them also worked on other Spencer films, but it's not too important anyway. This movie here is what counts now. Sadly because of the television schedule here in my country I could not watch those in order, but I watched this one today and the other I will probably watch five days from now. That's the plan. Should work out and honestly I don't think it's really crucial to watch the 1979 movie first because, if we ignore the ecplanation why Spencer's character is running around with an alien, then this one here also works as a standalone film too. By the way, I am sure you guessed it already, but there is no Terence Hill in this film. Just saying because him and Spencer are in so many films. But probably science fiction is also not exactly Hill's genre. Then again, it's not really Spencer's either.

Nonetheless, the film feels like many other Spencer movies despite the supernatural elements. He keeps beating up the antagonists, but never in a way that they are really injured. This also applies to the alien invaders we got here. Like I don't know if they are strong or robust or anything, but Bud has difficulties on at least one occasion to really give them his special treatment as he has to push really hard to move their limbs. But he succeeds in the end. The result is somewhat that their circuits become pretty messed-up and they keep saiyng the weirdest stuff. Of course, this is never a film to be taken seriously (especially not in terms of the metallic looks of the alien folks), but this it also has in common with many other (almost all) Spencer movies. Like the police could not take a child from one single man. But you should look beyond that and just enjoy it for what it is. I mean I kinda agree with the rating here that this is not the greatest movie in Pedersoli's body of work, but it is also not worse than many others I'd say, some of which have a better rating. Undeservedly. I guess many just did not like it because of how different it feels at times. Of course, with a boy playing a central character there is a little bit of cuteness (the boy is cute no denying, but the goat is cuter!) and emotion in it when he is sick (okay they kept this funny with the thermometer and sound as the temperature increased) or when he gets abducted for example and when he screams for his sheriff. That almost sounds like daddy. Yeah, it was maybe a bit too dramatic and not the film's highlight, but also not too bad. The highlight is Bud's grumpiness as always and gruff behavior while still having his heart in the right place. I know he plays these kind of characters in literally every movie, but he does it well and that is what the people want to see, so I am not mad at him. He found his perfect niche. Now I must talk a bit about this film specifically though. Let's see. There was this running gag with the military man's stupid face that got referenced at least twice. Once early on, once at the end. Well, I did not find it that funny I must admit. But I really liked the last shot of Bud and the boy in space together. That was cute, they really seemed united. So I am almost a bit sad there is no third movie, but anyway Spencer made enough other films we can enjoy. They are also still frequently on television. He is definitely an icon here in Germany. The basketball scene (sports or sports locations are featured so frequently in Spencer movies) with the boy jumping this high oh well. For him it was one of the film's highlights, for me not so much. It really felt as if this film only truly delivered quality when it was all about Spencer. maybe the boy's story was enough for one movie. Or at least they did not manage to come up with really interesting and creative references about him for this sequel. More talented writers might have. I don't know. By the way, Guffey is still alive today. He will turn 50 soon. So you can say that he is as old now as Spencer was in this movie. The latter of course always has good moments and is fun to watch, like when he locks a robber into the safe of a bank. Apparently, this fella comes there to rob the place almost on a daily basis? But now there is a new sheriff (is he really scared? why would he pretend though? still unusual for a Spencer character, he is always fearless, even if the other guy has a gun. anyway the conversation with the other guy at the ban was fun, before he interferes I mean) and things are getting more difficult for him obviously. I mean I already mentioned that the police and military in this film are utter fools. Or it is also those small moments I enjoyed, like when Spencer opens a door his very own way. He is who he is. But wait, is the sheriff star really causing him pain? Again, absolutely not typical for the bear of a man he is. But as different as some moments may seem, at its core this film of course has the usual Spencer sequences. The fight at the barber shop early on is a good example of that. There you also have a familiar actor playing the ain aggressor. He is in other Spencer movies. The face is easy to remember. I think he is still alive even, but really old obviously. And we have a scene where Spencer's character is tickled I think. Now his reaction there was totally cute. Okay, I think I leave it at that. Even if this may be a (more than) slightly different film from Pedersoli's body of work, it still includes his trademark scenes on many times. Take the fight inside the launderette (wait, was there really a guy killed right in front of our eyes?? I mean it was as hilarious as it gets visually, but still unusual as even the Spencer western never depict people's deaths, all family-friendly) prison building (hilarious sound effects) or take the big fight outside in the end. Brawl really. This is typical Spencer stuff. As is my rating for this film. I give it a thumbs-up and recommend checking it out, although you may want to see other Spencer movies first. Then again, this one here is not too easy to get a hand on anyway and it's probably getting more difficult when more years pass. Especially if you are going for the German dub. That's all. Positively recommended.
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