Best Burt Reynolds Movies, Part 2
The list continues, and only gets better
The next entrant in the ongoing list of best Burt Reynolds movies is the one on the list that I have probably watched the most. It is of course the 1981 classic ‘The Cannonball Run’.
This movie was directed by Hal Needham (who also directed Smokey and the Bandit) and written by Brock Yates. If you are into cars at all in the 1980s, which if you watched this movie then you probably were, you certainly recognize his name when it comes to cars. He was a TV analyst for NASCAR races in the 80s and was the editor of Car and Driver magazine. He actually organized the first version of the ‘Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash’ upon which this movie is based. He also makes an appearance in the movie as the organizer of the race. He is the guy on the night of the start that tells all the drivers that there is no death penalty in any of the 50 states for speeding, “although I’m not sure about Ohio.”
The movie changes the name of the race to the “Cannonball Run”, probably for simplicity, and then adds in a fun twist. The racers race in a variety of vehicles with some of them taking to disguise their vehicle so that they can buy a little favor with police if they run into any issues.
This movie centers around the team of J.J. McClure (Reynolds) and his buddy Victor (Dom DeLuise) as they enter an ambulance as cover. They run into some issues at the start because they figure they need a doctor to ride in the ambulance for a little added cover. The doctor is played by Jack Elam is one of the more memorable characters in the movie. He plays a proctologist. Since this is a fairly juvenile movie, there are a few jokes that center around proctology. They are juvenile jokes, yes. However they are also funny.
The team that has the most interaction with the main team of J.J. and Victor is a duo of famed formula one driver Jamie Blake (Dean Martin) and his sidekick Fenderbaum (Sammy Davis Jr.). They are driving a Ferrari 308 GTS and are disguised as priests.
A few of the other teams are also memorable. There are the sexy ladies who drive a Countach, the Sheik who drives a Rolls Royce (played by Jamie Farr, which seems a little extra racist, even for the 1980s), and even Roger Moore in a DB5. However in this case, Roger Moore is playing a guy who thinks he is Roger Moore but is really named Seymour Goldfarb. Even Terry Bradshaw, of NFL fame, is in the movie as a guy named Terry who races a primer gray Chevelle Laguna.
The movie starts with the beginning of the Cannonball Run. The racers are gathering at a Lodge in order to check into the race. They are also there to get drinks and in some cases, be lightly pursued by J.J. McClure. It is here where we hear the plan of Arthur Foyt and Pamela. They are environmentalists who have an opposition to the race. Pamela is approached by J.J. while in the bar and they talk and we get to see J.J. put all his best moves on. The flirt session is cut short by some light hearted interference from Victor.
The race starts soon after. We see each team race up, punch their time card, and race off. In the bushes we see Mr. Foyt and Pamela trying to take down license plate numbers.
The race carries on for a bit and eventually Pamela gets hooked up with the ambulance team of J.J., Victor, and the doctor. She gets used as a prop to fool some doctors and in between racing she spends some quality time with both J.J. and Victor. While talking to Victor, we get the reason why he invented his alter ego ‘Captain Chaos’.
I won’t spend time explaining Captain Chaos. Anything I do to explain him would be lacking so I will simply implore you to watch the movie.
Along the rest of the race we get to see Dean Martin and Sammy antagonize Burt and Dom a little. We even get to see a young Jackie Chan play a japanese driver (again, it was the 1980s where everyone from Asia was Japanese or Chinese) of a Subaru that is super high tech, especially for the 1980s.
The last major scene is a stoppage of the race because of construction. We see all the drivers parked along the side of the road. We overhear one of the construction workers tell a racer that the road should be open in about an hour. This leads to the racers talking and generally fucking around. Then the bikers show up. They are led by one of the greatest bikers in cinema history, Peter Fonda. They initially tangle with Burt Convey’s character and this leads to everyone getting involved in a huge melee. (I’m not sure why, but a lot of 1980s movies have enormous fights scenes.) After a good couple minutes of fighting, the racers defeat all the bikers and it just happens to be at the same time that the road is re-opened.
The racers then race to the finish line (in a combination of driving and a foot race at the very end) and we get to see everyone react to the winning team. I will simply say it is not J.J. and Victor. If you want to see who wins, watch the movie.
As always feel free to disagree. In this case you are wrong, but feel free nonetheless.
Come and see number 3 right here.
