Florida. Bull Webster is the owner of a small taxi company under the crunch of a loan shark, Morrison, who wants to buy the company and then destroy it. Debt is not Bull's only problem, since his daughter Candice returns to his home with a baby, yet the father is unknown. The forces of good and evil decide to test Bull's soul: an angel, in the form of a man, Victor, and the devil's henchman, in the form of a woman, Veronica, go to Earth and contact Bull. When a passanger cannot pay for the taxi fare, and thus gives Bull 10$ and a lottery ticket which later hits the 150 million $ jackpot, Bull's wife is kidnapped and taken for ransom. Bull however cannot find the ticket, until Victor tells him he hid it in his blue jacket, but it is gone. After a huge chase, Morrison threatens to shoot Victor if Bull doesn't give him the lottery ticket. Bull gives in, and thus the angel wins the match against the devil. Luckily, Bull beats the distracted Morrison, regains the ticket and uses it to open a new limousine company.
E.B. Clucher's 7th and final film collaboration with Bud Spencer, "Speaking of the Devil" is one of the best Spencer films: set in Florida to give it a sense of an American touch, filled with numerous good little jokes and a gentle story about the clash between selfishness and altruism without turning preachy, this is an overall really well done achievement. Even though Spencer's career was heading towards its sunset in the 90s, Clucher gave it one last go and delivered a fine film. The concept of the devil and an angel fighting over the soul of a protagonist has been done numerous times, for instance in Dragojevic's even better film "We're No Angels" released a year later, yet it still feels fresh due to the authors' positive energy, innocent charm and snappy character interactions. In one good gag, the attractive Veronica invites the protagonist, taxi driver Bull, to her hotel room, and then they have this exchange: "Are you free?" - "No, I'm married." - "I meant your cab." - "He's not married!" Upon hearing on the TV that he won the 150 million $ jackpot, Bull drops everything at the bar, rushes to his car, crashes through his fence in the backyard, and then even smashes the front door of his house open to maniacally search for the lottery ticket in his jacket. The finale, where Bull and Victor are driving in the car to get back home to stop the washing machine with said jacket inside before the timer activates it to wash, has even a clever idea: since they cannot make it in time, Bull simply takes a "shortcut" to the local power station and causes a room to explode, as to turn off electricity in the entire city and disable the washing machine. A light, somewhat overstretched, yet still sympathetic comedy that puts a smile on your face.
Grade:++
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