Last week I watched Smokey and the Bandit for the first time. Well, technically, I had seen bits of it here and there when I was a kid, but that was edited for television, so I’m saying this was the first time.
And I have to say…fun movie.
While highly unbelievable, both in concept and characters, I couldn’t help but like this movie in the end. I suppose having unbelievable inconsistencies in a comedy movie was just something you did back in the late 70’s, early 80’s (see Caddyshack). From the bumbling Sheriff to the fact that Sally Field fell for Burt Reynolds after about 20 minutes. Heck, does anyone ever notice that they never paid for the beer. They just stole it!
For those who haven’t seen the movie, it’s about a Trucker named Bandit (Burt Reynolds) who takes on a bet to drive from Georgia to Texarkana, TX to pick up 400 cases of Coors beer, and get back in 28 hours. Now at this time, Texarkana was the farthest east that Coors was sold, and carrying it across state lines was bootlegging. To pull off this feat, Bandit enlists his friend Snowman to drive the truck, while Bandit speeds ahead in a Pantiac Trans Am. In essence, Bandit will draw the cops attention by speeding, then lose them, all the while Snowman drives in freely. Along the way they pick up Carrie (Sally Field), who…let’s just say comes along for the ride for no apparent reason. There’s a reason, she’s being pursued by a Sherif (Jackie Gleason), but there’s really no reason why she’s there other than to be a love interest, and partial comic relief.
That’s the gist of the movie. A bet to haul 400 cases of Coors across state lines in 28 hours. Like I said, highly unbelievable. But to tell you the truth, it is fun.
Basically, the movie is Burt Reynolds and a one hour car chase. That’s about all you need to know.
They don’t really make actors like Burt Reynolds anymore. Sure, he’s not the greatest, but the fact that he was a man’s man, a ladies man, and a comedic actor is quite the combo. I can’t think of a single actor today who fits the bill. Maybe George Clooney and Brad Pitt came close, and to a lesser extent Matthew McConaughey, but all of them definitely lacked the mustache 🙂
And they sure don’t make chase scenes like that anymore. Now they’re all serious and “realistic.” At no point in Smokey and the Bandit did I fear for Bandit geting caught or injured. I actually didn’t fear for anyone getting injured. It was all good fun despite any destruction. Like you would see in a Herbie movie.
Hopefully one day we’ll see another movie come along with this sense of fun, adventure, and mustache.
But please don’t do a re-make.
