Delayed Reaction: Smokey & the Bandit

Premise: A pair of drivers go on an outlaw run to deliver a truck full of Coors cross country in 28 hours while the police are on their tail.

 

You know what? This movie is fun, and that's enough. It's not that funny. I believe them when they say the script was mostly improvised. I get the sense that it's an accident that the movie works at all. I didn't really even understand the urgency or stakes of it until I looked it up afterwards. But it's fun.

 

This movie does need a surprising amount of context. It really helps to know that CB radios were a fad in the 1970s. Random people would have them just for the fun of seeing who would be on the other end. (Things were boring before the internet, ok?) That explains why so many colorful characters would have CB radios in this. What I didn't realize is that Coors was illegal east of the Oklahoma for a while because it didn't contain preservatives. That made it a delicacy of sorts in the East and South. The lack of preservatives helps explain the ticking clock of the movie. Without any of this knowledge, the movie still makes sense, but it feels like less of a fantasy world.

 

There have always been whispers about Burt Reynolds being a real pain in the ass to work with, and I wonder if this movie broke him. He mentioned that this was his favorite movie to film. He made the movie because he was friends with Hal Needham, a former stuntman, even though he admitted the script was terrible. In fact, most of the movie was improvised. I definitely feel that in Reynolds' scenes. He seems so relaxed throughout the movie and gets to be a charming jerk throughout. The whole movie feels like Reynolds' personality as a movie. He was the biggest star in the world. His buddy is the director. He doesn't have lines to remember. He can lean on his charisma throughout. Every project after this must've felt like a chore, especially when they weren't as well received.

 

It's very easy to be dismissive about this movie. It's basically a 1977 Fast and Furious movie. Fun is fun though. Burt Reynolds is a cad. Sally Field is enjoyable. The car chases are exciting. The assorted CB radio allies give the movie an anarchic energy. I have no optimism about any of the sequels, but it all sure did work for one movie.

 

Verdict: Weakly Recommend