Post by StevePulaski on Feb 11, 2019 16:10:00 GMT -5
Smokey and the Bandit (1977)
Directed by: Hal Needham
Directed by: Hal Needham
Burt Reynolds and Sally Field in Smokey and the Bandit.
Rating: ★★★½
Before Alabama's song "Roll On" became one of the many truck-driving themes. Before "truck-driving country" became its own separate musical subgenre. And even before C. W. McCall's "Convoy" inspired its own theatrical film, there was Smokey and the Bandit and Jerry Reed's infectious ditty "East Bound and Down." Notorious for its intimate depiction of being on the run from the fuzz — not to mention a career-making performance from Burt Reynolds — Smokey and the Bandit comes from a time when films with simple, one-sentence premises could absolutely be done effectively (and were, for the most part). It was all about the comedic timing and the charisma of the performers. Being that Hal Needham's cult favorite from the late 1970s bears both of these attributes, as well as a rocking soundtrack and some deliciously fun action sequences, it has all it needs to succeed and then some.
But succeeding, however, is half the battle. Smokey and the Bandit isn't a dusty relic like Easy Rider, a film that helped defined a large sector of a generation but is one that's not nearly as fun nor as engaging to watch in the present day. Because of its inherent simplicity and contagious enthusiasm from its three leads, there is no expiration date on Smokey and the Bandit whatsoever. If anything, I assume it's gets more entertaining with each viewing.
The film revolves around local legend Bo "Bandit" Darville (Burt Reynolds) and his trusty trucker pal Cledus "Snowman" Snow (country singer Jerry Reed), two good ol' boys who agree to help a Big Enos Burdette (Pat McCormick) and his son (Paul Williams) and their sponsored race out by high-tailing from Georgia to Texarkana to retrieve some contraband. They need to fetch 400 cases of the coveted Coors beer, so their favored racer can celebrate with the finest nectar of the Gods when he wins. Bandit will receive a hefty chunk-of-change if he can bring the beer back in less than 30 hours. With that, our folk hero hops into his Pontiac Trans Am while Snowman jumps into his truck and the two make the run as swiftly as they can.
Retrieving the Coors isn't the tricky part, oddly enough. Some writers might've opted to make the film a quest of sorts, where getting to Texarkana was half the battle. Well, barely fifteen minutes after agreeing to the deal, the two men are already loading up Snowman's truck with enough beer to fully stock three dive-bars. The challenge is in getting it back to Atlanta, thanks to Sheriff Buford T. Justice (the exuberant Jackie Gleason), a gruff hard-ass of a lawman and his goofball son (former Pittsburgh Steeler Mike Henry). Along the way, Bandit picks up Carrie (Sally Field), a runaway bride with whom Bandit becomes smitten in no time.
The fun of Smokey and the Bandit rests largely in its action. There's no shortage of montages of Bandit and his Trans Am flying down the open roads of the south, and Needham directs with such energy and vigor that it's bound to put a smile on even the most cynical face. Whatever Needham's film lacks in sophisticated directing and polished editing, it makes up for in raw energy and turbulent chase-scenes that reinvigorate the film at every turn. Through it all, Reynolds affirms why he's such a star; his toothy smile, simultaneous cockiness and vulnerability, and his great looks all come together in a memorable, regionally defining character.
Smokey and the Bandit doesn't overstay its welcome either. At 96 minutes, the film does what it needs to do and moves on, like the Bandit himself, as if to recognize that we, the viewer, have other things to do and so does he. Desperately few films in the present have a sense of self-awareness of what they are supposed to be. Smokey and the Bandit has enough to loan to other films series if it wanted to.
Starring: Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Jerry Reed, Jackie Gleason, Mike Henry, Pat McCormick, and Paul Williams. Directed by: Hal Needham.