The Cannonball Run

Remember Burt Reynolds? That fresh-faced guy from The Longest Yard; that hairy-chested guy from Deliverance, that guy with the cool name and moustache from Smokey & The Bandit. One of the world's most famous actors, like so many others, Burt experienced something of a downfall in his career in the mid to late 80s, and would not be back in the movie limelight until 1997's Boogie Night. But with all that said, when Burt is good, he's great, and today I'm going to review one of his, in my opinion, greatest films. The legendary road movie The Cannonball Run.

Released in 1981 under the direction of former stuntman Hal Needham (Smokey & The Bandit), The Cannonball Run features an all star cast including Burt Reynolds, Dom DeLuise, Farrah Fawcett, Roger Moore, George Furth, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr. and many others. The movie is based on the real life

'Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash.' It has over-the-top characters, over-the-top jokes, over-the-top stunts, and over-the-top scenarios.It's so crazy it can't possibly be described, but I'm gonna give it a shot anyway.

The movie opens with our main characters, J.J McLure (Reynolds) and Victor Prinzi (DeLuise), 2 mechanics preparing for the upcoming Cannonball Run, which J.J is determined to win. In order to obtain victory they need to find a vehicle that they can drive fast, doesn't look suspicious and, in the case of police trouble, will provide a good cover. After several suggestions, they settle on an ambulance. Other contestants include Jamie Blake (Martin) and Fenderbaum (David, Jr.) who dress as priests and drive a Ferrari, and Seymour Goldfarb Jr, (Moore, parodying his James Bond persona) who drives an Aston Martin, rigged up with Bond-style gadgets.

The contestants gather in Connecticut for the start of the race. With a female patient name Pamela (Fawcett) and a Doctor, Nikolas Van Helsing (Jack Elam), J.J and Victor are ready and raring to go. Unfortunately, a Safety Enforcement Unit representative, Arthur J. Foyt (Furth), finds out about the race and plans to put a stop to it, but with so many Cannonballers on his hands, the odds don't appear to be in his favour.

The film has everything you'd expect from a car movie. High speed driving, crazy stunts, carnage, and a fat man in a superhero costume. Added together, you get the epitome of cinematic excess. The scale of the movie is incredible, as you would expect from a movie that features hundreds of competitors racing across one of the world's largest countries. The performances are wonderfully eccentric, the dialogue is quirky, the jokes are wild and always hilarious, and when it's over, it truly feels like you been taken on a huge road trip with the craziest bunch of folk. It's not so much of a film, more of an epic adventure, one I could enjoy every single day.