How often do you watch a movie where at some point you just say to yourself "holy s, this is a great movie". This happened to me recently while watching "A Fistful of Dollars". I know, I know.... like country music and rap, we all say we don't like westerns. Unlike those musical genres (my half-sincere apologies to fans) a western need not be void of quality and depth.

In case you aren't familiar with this movie, it is technically the first of a trilogy of westerns made by famed director Sergio Leone. We are are more familiar with the third movie in that trilogy - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly - but the first two movies in the set are almost as highly regarded. While "Ugly" is one of my all-time favorites I have to say that "Dollars" was not far behind.

The movie start in classic Leone style. There are almost no words spoken for the first several minutes of the movie. Leone seemingly drops us right into the middle of the plot and the movie starts with a bang. And then there is Clint. Like Nicholson's laugh or Pacino's... well, demeanor.... it seems that Clint's sneer has become almost cliche. But in this movie we are reminded of just how brilliant and descriptive his glare can be. And when he did speak, there was meaning - not a wasted word anywhere in the movie. Some of his comments were downright funny.

Even though the movie starts with a bang there is a palpable build of momentum throughout the movie. The plot was clever and even though you could see the final conflict coming from the beginning of the movie it was still very rewarding when it came. One unique note about this movie and the series in general: Clint's character (nameless in all three but they may very well be the same character) straddles the line between good and evil, often from scene to scene.

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