Cast:
Burt Reynolds (W.W. Bright), Conny Van Dyke (Dixie), Jerry Reed (Wayne), Ned Beatty (Country Bull Jenkins), James Hampton (Junior), Don Williams (Leroy), Rick Hurst (Butterball), Mel Tillis (GOB), Furry Lewis (Uncle Furry), and Art Carney (Deacon John Wesley Gore) Directed by John G. Avildsen (#003 - Rocky and #895 - Rocky V)
Review:
"...turned out wrong but it made a lot of money. It was supposed to be a special, warm and lovely little film. It was important that we not make fun of the people in Nashville as opposed to Nashville (1975). It wasn't that kind of movie. It was a bouquet to Nashville. But I got into a lot of fights with the director." - Burt Reynolds.
"The thing that the film taught me was that I could do something that I had no passion for, that my mechanics were such that I could make it work. There's some satisfaction to that." - John G. Avildsen
There aren't that many films out there where you could describe it as a stepping stone for better films for both its main star and director. Dick Richards was initially thought of in mind for director in 1972, but this did not come to pass (Reynolds would work with him fourteen years later with Heat), but a new director soon came about. This was the ninth feature film for John G. Avildsen, who had specialized in making low-budget movies with plenty of preparation involved that worked with production companies that ranged from the Cannon Group to Troma Entertainment, and it is Joe (1970) that stood out among his early work. The film that rocketed him all the way, however, was the film that followed this movie the next year, which was also a low-budget affair (starring an actor who auditioned for this film) that miraculously became one of the most iconic sports movies ever made in Rocky (1976). As for Reynolds...well, I am stretching this a bit, because he already was a star with stuff such as Deliverance (1972), White Lightning (1973), and The Longest Yard (1974) after a sea of low-budget affairs in television and film. But if one saw this film and Smokey and the Bandit (1977) back-to-back, one might get the impression one was a stepping stone for the other (incidentally, the director for that film in Hal Needham was the stunt coordinator for this feature). Granted, the focus is a smooth-talking conman who likes to specialize in robbing a specific gas station brand (while giving some of the loot to the poor sucker who finds themselves looking at his weapon) but finds himself in need of a good alibi that finds one with a travelling country music band while driving a (modified) Oldsmobile Rocket 88...really the one thing that seems more noticeable between the lovable showoffs in each film is a more interesting presence for both the feminine lead and the authority foil (of course there is also more of Jerry Reed in one of them, so there's also that). As one would like to note, Avildsen and Reynolds (who helped pick the director because of a good word from Jack Lemmon, who won an Academy Award with Avildsen's previous film, Save the Tiger) did not get along with each other during production, as Reynolds described him later as a "picky, arrogant little man", while Avildsen called the movie "one of the most unhappy experiences of my movie career", bemoaning that he did not have the knack of getting what he wanted and satisfying Reynolds; Avildsen was concerned about getting work done in carefully rehearsed details but Reynolds liked to have fun with his entourage of good ol' boys while favoring a loose style of filmmaking (i.e. not a complicated storyboard of sketched out scenes, as argued by Reynolds in his autobiography). The result is a curious venture of comedy that might be thought of as a loose mixed bag, but at least both seemed to have found something to like the film.
Apparently the script by Thomas Rickman would be tinkered extensively for production. He displayed his disgust by asking to write the novelization for the film (one might joke, but I remember reading a novelization of Fantastic Four as a kid), and the only reason one might even know this is because Quentin Tarantino was inspired by what he saw in the novel as compared to the film (which "literally offended" him) to start writing his own screenplays. Welp, differences can always be apparent when it comes to taste, because I found this to be a pretty decent movie. It isn't a great one for either its star or director, but being a stepping stone for better pastures is not a terrible thing when one has enough fun seeing it all play out. It's a silly light movie, filled with bits of Nashville in the singing department with a decent execution of comedy that is buoyed mostly because of the presence of Reynolds (who had a share of hits and misses with films that relied mostly on him, as evidenced by films like the Bandit series). He has the easygoing charm one could see on the stuff that made him a household name (whether that was films or the talk show circuit), which helps a bit that starts with the casual robberies that take hold from time to time. Van Dyke is okay, but she seems more interesting within the music group than with any small attempts at chemistry with Reynolds. The film features the acting debut of Jerry Reed, an Atlanta native that reportedly aspired to be a star in Nashville as a child, and the end result was a lengthy career in country music and it only makes sense to see a country star dabble into the world of acting; Reed would appear in a handful of films with his friend Reynolds (who he directed the following year with Gator). Reynolds may have all the elusive charm, but Reed helps to compliment him the best in actual chemistry, even when they have a brief fight scene. Others who were involved in music included Van Dyke alongside Williams, Lewis and Tillis, although Hampton probably sticks out a bit among the music players in the peanut gallery. Beatty was in his sixth film role (he also starred in Nashville the same year as this film), and one gets to see him for about two to three scenes, but I appreciate his candor when it comes to playing the trick between a legendary singer and the image besides the singing, and it is easy to see why Beatty had such an interesting career in character acting. And then of course there is Carney, making small appearances as the devout authority foil...honestly, he either should have had more time with Reynolds or should have just been cut from the film, because his stone-faced attempts at...something are very okay at best (while I have been all about stepping stones in this review, this was actually the first film role for Carney after winning an Academy Award for Harry and Tonto).
As a whole, what we have is a film befuddled in someway by what it wants to tell in a tale of adventure and romance that likely needed a bit more spark when it comes to being more than a Southern road movie. If one has a liking for Reynolds or the other good ol' folks, however, you will find yourself just fine with what happens here, even if it isn't exactly remembered as one of the best for either Avildsen or Reynolds. It's an average affair with a few chuckles and a little bit of light action that works in some way for whomever happens to encounter it.
Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.
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