Review of Stick (1985) by Ola G — 09 Sep 2016

Ernest "Stick" Stickley (Burt Reynolds), a former car thief, has just been released from prison. He meets up with an old friend, Rainy (Jose Perez), whose "quick stop" near the Florida Everglades before they go home is an illegal drug deal that goes sour. With his friend dead, Stick needs to hide out for a while to elude the killers who must eliminate him as a witness. While lying low, Stick finds himself in the right place at the right time when he helps a wealthy eccentric named Barry (George Segal) get into his locked car. Hired as a driver, he has a comfortable home with a stable job and tries to make up for lost time with Katie, his teen-age daughter. He also finds a new flame in Kyle (Candice Bergen), a financial consultant who acts as a business adviser for Barry, who must decide what of Stick can be salvaged. Before he can move on, however, Stick confronts drug dealer Chucky (Charles Durning) to demand the money owed to his murdered friend. Chucky refuses and sends albino hit-man Moke (Dar Robinson) after the ex-con. Stick can't get on with his new life without cleaning up old business first. He becomes the target of Moke as well as the cartel that employs Chucky, led by the voodoo-obsessed Nestor (Cástulo Guerra). A three-way confrontation on a high-rise balcony ends in Chucky's and Moke's deaths. Stick must then rely on his quick wit and fists to deal with his final enemy, Nestor, who has kidnapped Stick's daughter...

Burt Reynolds "Stick" is somewhat uneven in the storyline. I reckon due to the fact that the movie was originally set for release in August 1984 but Universal Pictures demanded that director Burt Reynolds shoot additional action scenes--at a further cost of $3 million--and cut down the film's humor to make it more commercially viable. I reckon Reynolds was aiming for a character driven piece with Elmore Leonard´s screenplay and book while UP wanted something more simple and easy for the box office. The first half has this intense 80s atmosphere pushing Stick´s revenge for Rainy, while the other half becomes everything on a plate. Thriller, action, love you name it. The editing and direction from director Reynolds could´ve been better, then again we don´t know how Reynolds original cut did look like. Burt Reynolds is ok, but not on top due to his apparent injury from the "City Heat" production, Segal is a pain in the ass, the lovely Candice Bergen ends up as a backdrop, Charles Durning is over the top James Bond villain like while I personally think that the late and great stuntman Dar Robinson is excellent as Moke. The ending is a bit ridiculous and not that good. I reckon "Stick" has it´s moments. The incredible stunt where "Moke" falls to his death from a very high balcony while shooting at Stick, had Dar Robinson rigged to his own invention, a complex wire rig that "deccelerated" his fall, and made the use of an airbag unnecessary is not something you forget. Great scene. But, it´s not "Sharky´s Machine" and you keep on wondering how good it could´ve been. Trivia: "I wanted to make that movie as soon as I read the book," said Reynolds. "I respected Leonard's work. I felt I knew that Florida way of life, having been raised in the state. And I was that guy!" Reynolds recalled "I turned in my cut of the picture and truly thought I had made a good film. Word got back to me quickly that the people in the Black Tower [Universal's head office] wanted a few changes." The studio pulled the movie from its release schedule and asked Reynolds to reshoot the second half of the film. A new writer was brought in along with a subplot involving his character reuniting with his daughter post-prison. Reynolds says his agent advised him to go along with the changes: I gave up on the film. I didn't fight them. I let them get the best of me...Leonard saw the film the day he was interviewed for a Newsweek cover and told them he hated it. After his comment, every critic attacked the film and he wouldn't talk to me. When I reshot the film, I was just going through the motions. I'm not proud of what I did, but I take responsibility for my actions. All I can say--and this is not in way of a defense--is if you liked the first part of 'Stick,' that's what I was trying to achieve throughout. "It's very very theatrical," complained Leonard of the film. "I do everything in my power to make my writing not look like writing, and when it appears on screen you see these actors acting all over the place." "Stick" received negative reviews from critics. Despite opening at No. 1 in its first weekend, the film was a box office flop, grossing just $8.5 million when compared to its $22 million budget. Leonard later said Reynolds "just didn't do it right at all..." "I didn't recognise my screenplay at all in that movie. They even put another writer on it to add more action... Burt had done Sharky's Machine and Gator and I thought he would be good as Stick. But he needed a good director. Directing it himself he just played Burt Reynolds.".