The Fight Before Christmas (1994)

Christmas is approaching, and Maw (Ruth Buzzi) has just one wish: To see her family back together again.

Specifically, that means a reunion of her estranged sons, fast draw artist Travis (Terence Hill) and horse-thief-turned-bounty-hunter Moses (Bud Spencer).

Maw writes Travis about her wishes, adding that she’s been holding a treasure for them, something left behind by their late father.

Well, Travis tracks down Moses and finds him the father of a whole passel of kids.

But what Moses doesn’t want is a close bond with Travis, who’s proposing they join forces to track down an outlaw named Sam Stone with a $4,000 bounty on his head.

When wife Janie reminds him of how much they need the money, Moses relents on one condition: The partnership ends once Stone is in custody.

What Moses doesn’t know is that the bounty is so high on Stone because Travis rescued him from a hanging.

And Travis has every intention of guiding Moses to Maw’s home for the holidays as they chase the notorious outlaw.

It’s just a coincidence that Stone is heading in the same direction after one of Moses’s children inadvertently tells the outlaw about the treasure waiting there.

Review:

Fans of the Terence Hill-Bud Spencer films will likely enjoy this more than anyone else. It’s a film that has it’s moments, but can’t hold a candle to “They Call Me Trinity” (1970), the movie that made the duo famous.

Among those moments: Terence Hill’s character is preparing to shoot the rope — Clint Eastwood style — when Bud Spencer’s character is hanged. A dog interrupts, grabbing the leg of his pants. No problem. When the rope snaps, the entire gallows collapses under Spencer’s weight.

In another scene, the two men are sitting side by side on rocking chairs, planning the next move in their pursuit of outlaw Stone. Hill keeps synching the rocking chairs. Each time he does, Spencer stops his to make sure they’re not rocking in sync.

Unfortunately, the whole thing ends with a completely unnecessary all-out brawl in which Moses’s children use cow patties as weapons while the girls chase the bad guys around, sticking forks into their behinds. Oh, my.

As a subplot, Travis falls for a woman named Bridget, who’s raising money to start an animal clinic. Travis and Moses must ride to the rescue when her pet bear is kidnapped and held ransom.

Oh, and the sheriff winds up trailing Travis and Moses, too. In their attempt to nab Stone after a bank holdup, they’re mistaken for accomplices.

Directed by:
Terence Hill

Cast:
Terence Hill … Travis
Bud Spencer … Moses
Boots Sutherland … Sam Stone
Ruth Buzzi … Maw
Neil Summers … Dodge
Michael Huddleston … Blacksmith
Anne Kasprik … Bridget
Eva Hassmann … Melle
Ron Carey … Sheriff Fox
Fritz Sperberg … Deputy Joe
Radha Delamarter … Janie
Jonathan Tucker … Moses Junior
Paloma von Broadley … Jessica
Samantha Waidler … Mary Lou

Runtime: 107 min.

aka:
Botte di Natale
Troublemakers
The Trouble Makers
The Night Before Christmas

Memorable lines:

Mose’s daughter, as Travis and Moses devour plates of beans like they haven’t eaten for a week: “Are they drinking them beans?”
Mose’s son: “That’s what it looks like.”

Moses: “Stop calling me big brother.”
Travis: “Alright, just brother.”
Moses: “Just big.”

Dodge: “I need you to look at my chicken, Miss Bridget.”
Bridget: “What’s wrong with it?”
Dodge: “It lays square eggs.”

Travis: “You know, I was thinking?”
Moses: “Well, don’t let your thoughts include me.”

Travis: “What if Stone is hiding behind maw with his gun ready and pointed right at me?”
Moses: “What of it?”
Travis: “There’s no way I can beat that.”
Moses: “That’s when I come in. After he shoots at you, I jump out and do him in.”
Travis: “But won’t I be dead?”
Moses: “That’s your problem.”

Trivia:

This marked the first pairing of Terence Hill and Bud Spencer since 1985’s “Miami Supercops” and their final film together. They hadn’t appeared in a Western together since 1971’s “Trinity is Still My Name.”

On his website, Hill writes that the film was something of a family affair. Bud’s son Giuseppe was one of the producers. Hill’s son Jess wrote the screenplay.

Yep, that’s American comedian Ruth Buzzi in the role of Maw. She had appeared in one episode of Terence Hill’s 1991 TV series “Lucky Luke.”

Neil Summers as Dodge, one of the troublemkers in The Fight Before Christmas (1994)

Bud Spencer as Moses, behind bars and sentenced to hang in The Fight Before Christmas (1994)