Double Trouble takes one of cinema’s great mismatched comedy partnerships and doubles the joke: Terence Hill and Bud Spencer each play two characters, turning a familiar mistaken-identity setup into an increasingly unruly Rio adventure.

Hill is Elliot Vance, a stuntman, while Spencer plays saxophonist Greg Wonder. Their uncanny resemblance to wealthy Brazilian cousins makes them unusually well-paid human decoys when somebody begins trying to eliminate the businessmen. The arrangement provides exactly the playground Hill and Spencer need: expensive surroundings, suspicious villains, broad physical comedy and the inevitable fights in which conventional physics quietly leaves the room.

Directed by Enzo Barboni — better known in the credits as E.B. Clucher — the film comes from the director behind several defining Hill–Spencer collaborations. What makes Double Trouble particularly enjoyable is the contrast between the pair’s screen personas and the refined men they are supposed to imitate. Hill supplies the agility and mischievous charm; Spencer provides the immovable presence and wonderfully economical violence.

Rio de Janeiro isn’t merely a name in the plot: the production filmed there in April and May 1984, giving the movie a bright Brazilian setting that distinguishes it visually from many of the duo’s European adventures.

It is unapologetically broad, physical entertainment — and an excellent introduction to the peculiar comic chemistry that made Terence Hill and Bud Spencer international cult stars.

Director: Enzo Barboni (E.B. Clucher)
Writer: Marco Tullio Barboni
Main cast: Terence Hill, Bud Spencer, April Clough, Nello Pazzafini
Production companies: El Pico S.A.; Trans-Cinema TV; Renato Aragão Produções Cinematográficas (in collaboration)
Country: Italy / Brazil
Original release: 21 October 1984 (Italy)