★ 4 / 10
BUD SPENCER ALS TAXIFAHRER Diesmal bekommt es Bud
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BUD SPENCER ALS TAXIFAHRER Diesmal bekommt es Bud Spencer mit Engelchen und Teufelchen zu tun. Mit seinem Taxi unternehmen geht's bergab, doch ein vom Himmel…
BUD SPENCER ALS TAXIFAHRER
Diesmal bekommt es Bud Spencer mit Engelchen und Teufelchen zu tun.
Mit seinem Taxi unternehmen geht's bergab, doch ein vom Himmel sowie auch vom Teufel gesanter auserwählter soll den guten Buddy auf seine Seite ziehen. 150 Millionen Doller später wird die Moral über Gier obsiegen.
Das einzig gute hieran ist Bud Spencer der gerade das nötigste tut und die Musik die wirklich abgeht. Der Rest ist Schrott, die Story ist übertrieben christlicher Mist und kaum der Rede wert. Leider einer der schwächsten Streifen.
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★ 6 / 10
This film is neither paradise nor hell, just a good time ahead
Horst_In_Translation
"Un piede in paradiso" or "Speaking of the Devil" or "Wenn man vom Teufel spricht" is a co-production between Italy and the United States of America from 1991…
"Un piede in paradiso" or "Speaking of the Devil" or "Wenn man vom Teufel spricht" is a co-production between Italy and the United States of America from 1991, so this film has its 30th anniversary this year. From the poster you can see already that here we have another Bud Spencer film. He is still a big star here in Germany and yesterday was a national holiday in my country and, on the occasion of holidays, one television channel frequently shows Spencer's films all day long and this is one of those shown yesterday. Actually, one of Spencer's lesser known movies we have here that is not on too frequently. This may also have to do with the absence of Spencer's buddy Terence Hill here. They are both Italians by the way, these are English names just their aliases. Anyway, Spencer was approximately 60 when he appeared in this one, so certainly one of his later works, even if he lived on for quite some time afterwards too. Now, even quite a few years after his death, Spencer is still an icon here in Germany and people love his movies and probably still will 50 years from now. At 95 minutes, it is neither a long nor short film, maybe average or slightly below if we are looking at other Bud Spencer films. The director is Enzo Barboni and the screenplay came from Barboni's son Marco. These two have worked with Bud Spencer on other occasions too. Co-writer is Giuseppe Pedersoli, Bud Spencer's son. It is all a bit of a family affair as Spencer's daughter plays Spencer's character's daughter in this film too and there is even a baby involved. I wonder if that is Spencer's real grandchild too. Anyway, Spencer's daughter (her name is Diamante, beautiful name) was only 18 or so here, really young (okay probably she was not yet a mother in real life) and she is pretty stunning. Same applies to Carol Alt, about a decade older and much more seductive, who maybe plays the biggest female character in here. As for the rest of the cast, not too many big names, but Ricardo Pizzuti deserves a mention as always because he has been in so many Bud Spencer movies long before this one.
It's probably not a real coincidence that you find the likes of guardian angels in this film or at least heavenly characters because this came out briefly after the Oscar-winning Ghost. But I think other than that, the story could not be any more different. You will also certainly find politically incorrect moments in this film. I am sure that radical equal rights supporters could have a problem with the devil here being a woman or at least a woman being the representative of the devil. They do get worked up pretty quickly for sure. And near the end, there is some talking about Japanese and their height it was I think that people today could have a problem with from the racism perspective. Anyway, I am glad these scenes exist and are not censored and I miss times like those back then during which people did not get offended as quickly as they do today. I am genuinely waiting for an information on the screen for Bud Spencer films that it is not okay to hit people. Sigh. Anyway, let's keep looking at the outcome here. Funnily enough, both heaven and hell have a specific interest in Bud Spencer's character, so there are supernatural forces here, but they keep it all light fur sure and Spencer also plays the character he usually plays. You could already see that when he talks to the young athlete. He tells the boy that his father is not in the wrong when it comes to the boy's future and the boy still cares about Buddy's character's opinion. Also, it's not a big problem that the boy could not really pay for the taxi ride because Spencer's character sees himself a bit in him and has the heart in the right place. But with the next not so likable client he makes sure he has the money to pay for the ride. Then there is a winning lottery ticket involved, which is not a huge surprise because big amounts of money or priceless goods are something you find in many Spencer movies and in the end he is never really the one who gets the fortune, but that is fine because he has found happiness elsewhere. Already long before the film starts usually
As I stated earlier, this always stays a light movie, also in the face of kidnapping scenarios for example. There is a main antagonist who is greedy and unlikable and he wants to scheme Buddy out of his money once again. The consequence is some fist-fighting as usual with Spencer movies and even the heaven-sent fella down on Earth gets to be a part of this worldly pleasure and not on the receiving end. The bad guys as always get their share eventually. There's no unhappy endings with Spencer movies. And in the end, the guy from heaven is even "allowed" to stay on Earth with his new buddies, even if he initially does not seem too happy. The jokes in the dialogues are nice as well like one fella, after getting hit by Spencer's character (and he is again the one who comes from heaven), elaborating on how Spencer's character's fists are so strong that he almost sent him back up. Many other references linked to heaven and hell. I won't go too much into detail. More fun with the dialogues as well and Spencer had many nice moments again too like when he was about to apologize to the heavenly fella in the hospital after it became known that the man was not one of the bad guy's helpers. Oh yeah, the music here was nice again too. No Oliver Onions this time I think, but still quite decent. I liked the opening a lot with the audio and video by the way, but the music keeps delivering throughout the film later on too. Most people behind the camera working on this one were Italian, while the cast is a mix of Italian, American and French performers. The heart and soul of it all is of course Spencer though. I mean how can you not love him. I am still baffled by how Americans never really discovered, let alone appreciated him and probably won't anymore. The number of ratings here on imdb with this title and most of his others is quite telling. Maybe the funniest moment for me here from him was when he called his little grandchild (I think it was a boy) a fountain because the kid apparently keeps peeing and that was in a moment when he gives the boy to somebody else. Also funny how he has no clue what the boy may eat and also what he tells him that he should make sure they feed him well. Really sweet and funny moments at the same time.
Despite the fighting (that is harmless too though), Spencer films like this always manage to strike the right notes in terms of emotions and the frequently heartwarming messages they are sending. There is no way I could not give this film all in a thumbs-up and that was clear from the very beginning. It may be true that Spencer kind of plays the same character in almost all his films, at least the most famous ones, but it is still a joy to watch. So the description also fits these films and can be seen as very similar most of the time. You will not find gritty stories or really overwhelming character studies in these movies, but you will find lots of fun and many moments to smile, sweet messages and just a lot of charisma with the protagonist. This one here is surely not a film people will see as their first when it comes to Spencer's body of works, but it's still a good watch if you have seen most of his other movies. I don't think it's worse than what he did in the 1970s and 1980s and just like those, this one we have here also has great rewatch potential. You can probably watch Spencer's movies 99 times and will still enjoy the watch when you see it the 100th time. And still smile a lot, maybe laugh even. So yeah, go check this one out! Maybe the one thing that is a bit different with this one here is that we have a woman (Alt) play one of the biggest characters, namely that hottie from hell. In most other Spencer films, especially the early ones, you will find mostly male performers and characters in the second-tier roles. Spencer is, in the absence of Hill, the one and only first tier this time of course. Positively recommended.
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80%
AUDIENCE
5.9/10
1.7K
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Subtitles please!