That, and other stupid questions, may or may not be answered in jaunty shit-fest OPERATION DOUBLE 007, AKA OPERATION KID BROTHER, AKA OK CONNERY. I like the last title best, it makes the film sound like some kind of demented response to HELLO DOLLY! Or Hello, Kitty. Or possibly NOW, VOYAGER, I'm not sure.

A cheesy Italian Bond rip-off starring Sean Connery's little brother Neil that nobody would ever expect to be any good, OK CONNERY defies expectations by being barely watchable, until a kind of punchiness afflicts the viewer, at which point the film becomes persistently hilarious, not as a spy spoof, but as a kind of incoherent cheese dream transcribed onto celluloid by faeces-wielding chimpanzees dressed as Toulouse-Lautrec. That's how I chose to enjoy it, anyway.

Forgive me for neglecting to mention this previously, but I have a special lens that enables me to look into cartoon skunk Pepé lePew's sexual fantasies.

Even as a mock-Bond, this... thing  ain't too coherent as a narrative. Actually, any plot synopsis is likely to sound like a bit of William Burroughs fold-in literature, individual words picked at random from a hat by an eyeless madman wearing a bib. "Thanatos are trying to steal an atomic nucleus. Beta is using radioactive rugs to create high-frequency magnetism. Only plastic surgeon lip-reader prize archer and hypnotist Dr. Neil Connery can stop them."

Thanatos -- or maybe that should be T*H*A*N*A*T*O*S (Terrible Hokey Associated Nefarious Assholes Terrorising Our Society?) -- is run by Adolfo Celi, formerly Largo from THUNDERBALL, one of several refugees from the proper James Bond films. We get indentured Moneypenny Lois Maxwell (glumly professional), professional scary-face Anthony Dawson from DR. NO (craggily weary), minor Bond girl Andrea Bianchi (predictably the same) and original "M" Bernard Lee (visibly drunk). Ursula Andress, incredibly, must have had better things to do.

It's both remarkable and amusing that these actors (especially series regulars Maxwell and Lee) had so little loyalty to their paymasters at Eon Productions that they were happy to jump ship and make fools of themselves in this boisterous trash. My guess is that they simply weren't getting paid enough to feel any gratitude to Bond boss Alberto "Cubby" Broccoli for bestowing immortality upon them. I seem to recall that Sean Connery himself, by the time of GOLDFINGER, his third Walther-toting outing in tux, was only getting five grand for the whole picture. Ludicrous.

Neil Connery, in a bold stretch, plays Dr. Neil Connery, who can not only hypnotise people just by putting his fingers together to form a sort of tent, but can also fire a sub-machine gun while disguised as Vincent Van Gogh, an unusual set of skills. Combine that with his archery, plastic surgery and lip-reading and you'd have to say he was a force to reckon with. A shame acting isn't one of his super-powers.

We don't expect any mere actor-brother -- whether it's Harrison's older sibling Terence Ford ("Terence"???) or Bob's little bro' Jim Mitchum -- to be more than a sickly shade of the original, but Neil Connery deserves credit for being slightly more surprising than that. Unfortunately he's been dubbed with a standard-issue Amurrican accent, even though the character is described as originating from Edinburgh (when big brother Sean's birthplace is cited in films, e.g. THE ROCK, it's usually given as Glasgow, for some reason). But Neil compensates physically with weird mannerisms. (1) Clutching his groin protectively with both hands while talking to Bianchi. (2) Randomly alternating his total of two facial expressions, one of which seems to say "This line has a clever hidden meaning that only I know," while the other signifies, desperately "I have no idea what that line means." (3) Blinking furiously whenever he's not actually trying to hypnotise anyone. I think he might actually be signalling in Morse Code -- a message just for me, that's crossed four decades just to reach me. "If you're watching this, and I can only pray you are, please -- FORGIVE ME!"

But I can't actually read Morse Code so it's tough luck for Neil.

E mi sovviene Adolfo Celi: mai protagonista, sempre impeccabile.

Apenas uma coisa separa essa grande amizade. Saiba qual...

Segundo filme da trilogia de Monicelli que começa com "Meus Caros Amigos". Creiam, não há perdas se vistos fora da seqüência. Politicamente incorretos, machistas e sem escrúpulos, eles não poupam ninguém. Nem Religião, nem Família e nem ética nenhuma.

O filme traz passado e presente na vida desses caros amigos. No presente, um deles já se foi. E no encontro dos quatro, no túmulo desse... Somos então apresentados a essa turma para lá de irreverente. São eles: um Conde falido, um arquiteto, um dono de um restaurante, um cirurgião e o amigo morto, fora um editor de jornal. Na fala do Conde, temos o elo que os unes:

"Apesar de toda as diferenças entre nós... todos reunidos por certa regras que não confessamos: o direito de nos pregar peças reciprocamente; a vontade de rir, de se divertir e o gosto difícil de não se levar nada a sério."

O que eles aprontam!! É hilário!! Uma dica: não bebam e não comam nada durante as brincadeiras. Correm o risco ou de engasgarem, ou de quase cometerem um strike como eu bebendo um café logo no começo. Tive que voltar a fita, por não acreditar no que estava vendo e para rir de novo.

As brincadeiras continuam, sem que eles percam o pique. Há aquelas que fazem sempre, mas há também as que parecem vir de bandeja para eles. Que em vez do "Ai, ai, ai, ai!", que é como um aviso do médico aos demais... nos vem um: "ô, ô! Mais um pato para eles." E eles não nos decepcionam! Melhor explicado pelas palavras do arquiteto ao ver um dos amigos em ação; mais um que não deixou que a bola fosse embora. Eis: "Que coisa de gênio! A fantasia, a intuição, golpe de vista e velocidade de execução."

Além da farra que fazem juntos... Um dos pontos positivos nessa amizade é a liberdade que dão aos demais de sacanearem entre si. Como na cena onde um guarda de trânsito os param, por terem entrado na contramão. Daí, o dono do restaurante descobre que não é dele a carteira que traz no bolso. A turma não perdoa! Também, numa de levantar a moral de um, armam um banzé na Torre de Pisa.

Agora, sem sombra de dúvida, eles mostram que são amigos até num infortúnio. Em ter prazer na companhia um do outro, sempre. Que darão um jeito de se divertirem juntos!

Adorei! Nota: 10

Por: Valéria Miguez.

O Quinteto Irreverente [Meus Caros Amigos 2] (Amici Miei Atto II). 1982. Itália. Direção: Mario Monicelli. Com: Philippe Noiret, Ugo Tognazzi, Adolfo Celi, Gastone Moschin, Renzo Montagnani, Milena Vukotic, Franca Tamantini, Angela Goodwin.