Review of Smokey and the Bandit (1977) by Kay L — 18 Aug 2015

Smokey and the Bandit is an action comedy/adventure movie that takes all the seriousness of a true chase movie and throws it away, only to introduce a fun old time and even the most dangerous times are taken in leisurely by the main characters. With American muscle cars screeching at every corner, and really quite annoying police sirens everywhere, this is one movie that although flawed in places, is still very much OK.

Burt Reynolds is the main man around the highways playing the Bandit Bo Darville, who's reckless driving and blatant disregard for the law are seen as a good thing(but we have to support the good guys right?). Jackie Gleason as the old Sheriff Buford T.Justice is good, pretty funny and he just makes you dislike him even though you kind of want to see more of him, the partnership between him and his deputy(who also happens to be his son) is a little stupid at times, but nevertheless still kind of funny. Sally Field is OK as Carrie a bride who well doesn't want to get married and meets the Bandit, the chemistry between all involved is pretty tight, and the director does a good job on that.

And on that note the director, Hal Needham, whose direction takes the film in a nice direction, fast paced and well timed but also with a few scatterings of jokes. The few times the movie is funny are probably outweighed by the poor jokes involved, I don't think it is the delivery that is off, the script just doesn't always make the joke come off right, and so your left either cringing or very mildly laughing, VERY mildly. It's basically the kind of movie to be enjoyed if you want fast pace as I say, look into too much and you'll just start to dislike it, I for one didn't take it seriously and found it alright.

I mean this movie grossed into the hundreds of millions, whether it deserves that is another question but does prove to me how big this movie was and possibly still is. That said this movie is not great, I mean as I have been saying it is satisfactory but far from very good, a movie that gives off the kind of vibe that it was going for just OK from start to finish. I think Burt Reynolds is a good addition to the movie; his presence is welcome and makes the movie a little more fun too, even with his very calm demeanour.

Overall the movie is as said throughout OK, never reaching the any true heights but still finishing up nicely. I would recommend this to those from the 70's, well OK not just people from the 70's, also those who enjoy good old fashioned fun and likeable characters, all mixed in a barely just about funny movie. This spawned two sequels and a TV series, some could say that shows success but for me it shows a film grossing well first time around and then milking the hell out of it!