Outside of Reilly, ‘Heads or Tails?’ is a real gamble
The gonzo Italian Western “Heads or Tails?” proudly harkens back to that oft-quoted line from the John Ford masterpiece, “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance”: “When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.” Directors Alessio Rigo de Righi and Matteo Zoppis take the concept and run with it in a maddening yarn in which truth becomes lore at nearly every turn. And who better to propagate it than the master bullshitter himself, Buffalo Bill Cody?
Portraying a towering American icon requires a performance that is equal parts bluster and gravitas, qualities John C. Reilly delivers in spades. I’ll even stick my neck out and declare it ranking among his best work, right up there with his superb turns as Oliver Hardy and Dewey Cox. From the get-go, he holds you tightly in his grip, as Bill puts the finishing touches on a command performance of his famed Wild West Show for a gathering of wine- and tea-sipping aristocrats in early 1900s Roma.
It’s yet another opportunity for Bill to make himself the hero of a fabricated scenario in which the white man conquers the red one in bloodletting bravado. Much to the delight of the snooty Romans, who equate Bill’s dominance over “the other” with the iron fists they lord over Italy’s groveling paupers. One daring land baron even dares to declare himself and his ranch hands superior to any of the expert ropers and riders in Bill’s expansive entourage.
It’s a bet Bill somewhat reluctantly accepts, and one that the arrogant Ercole Rupe (Mirko Artuso) wins, despite orders to his top hand, Santino (Alessandro Borghi), to take a dive so boss man can reap the benefits of betting against his own crew. Little did he realize the blue-eyed, ruggedly handsome Santino possessed too much pride to allow the Americanos to prevail. But while Ercole is livid, his young, freckle-faced French spouse, Rosa (Nadia Tereszkiewicz), is quite enamored and eager to take a roll in the stable hay with the equally smitten cowpoke.
Predictably, the two skedaddle on a stolen white mustang, but not without first presenting Ercole with a parting gift: a bullet to the brain. As one would expect, Ercole’s vengeful papa (Gianni Garko) is none too happy, almost immediately hiring Bill to lead a posse to hunt them down. So far, so good, as Bill finds himself in the spot of having to put up or shut up about his claims that the white hats always prevail over the black ones.
This is the point where de Righi and Zoppis commit the fatal mistake of not sticking with Reilly’s charismatic Buffalo Bill in favor of centering on the fugitive lovers, who are about as exciting as watching Italian sausage being processed. That, plus the distraction of two actors with zero chemistry, ensures that all the air is instantly sucked out of the scenario. And we still have another 90 minutes to go!
To be sure, Reilly returns for a series of humorous cutaways, including one in which he croons a Western tune he penned, but it only serves to remind us how much more fun we’d be having hanging with Bill. A wish that only intensifies when, out of the blue, de Righi and Zoppis drop Santino and Rosa into the middle of a violent revolt staged by exploited railroad builders led by the slightly demented Capo (Peter Lanzani). It’s as if we’re suddenly watching a completely different movie.
Yet, the film’s message, concocted by de Righi, Zoppis and Carlo Salsa, never strays from its mission to demonstrate how easy it is for fact to be transformed into fiction when the tellers fashion the truth into what best serves them, including Buffalo Bill himself. It would be a nifty objective had it not already been stated so well in “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.” Did we really need reminding?
True, it’s somewhat fascinating to discover Italy is just as guilty as the U.S. in fabricating its heroes and their stories, but not at the expense of denying us more of what we crave. Which is Reilly and his slick way of subtly exposing Buffalo Bill’s mythos to be little more than overhyped claptrap. The same points could have been established just as easily through his story as through Rosa and Santino, but with a lot more oomph. And did we really need to see the movie redefine the meaning of “talking heads?”
The surrealness of the latter is no doubt bold and daring, but what good is it if it fits so awkwardly into the narrative? But it’s indicative of the feeling you get that de Righi and Zoppis made the story up as they went along. Thus, undermining not just Reilly’s mesmerizing performance but also that of Tereszkiewicz, whose character says little but expresses a lot through her inherent grace and seductive bedroom eyes.
All told, should you see it? Like the title queries, flip a coin. Who knows? You might end up a winner, but you also could lose something as valuable as your precious time. And Lord knows, two hours of your life is a terrible thing to fritter away on something so discombobulated. And, trust me, that’s not myth. That’s reality.
Movie review
Heads or Tails?
Rated: Not rated
Cast: John C. Reilly, Nadia Tereszkiewicz, Alessandro Borghi,
Directors: Alessio Rigo de Righi and Matteo Zoppis
Writers: Alessio Rigo de Righi, Matteo Zoppis and Carlo Salsa
Runtime: 116 minutes
Where: In theaters (limited) and on streaming April 10
Grade: C
